A Capitol Effort

• Author: Rhonda McMillion
• Pages: 67-67

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PATRICIA LEE REFO

JUNE 2018 ABA JOURNAL || 67

Your ABA

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REPORT FROM GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

A Capitol Eort

ABA Day lobbying focused on protecting the Legal

Services Corp. and student-loan forgiveness program

By Rhonda McMillion

More than 300 bar leaders from

around the country traveled to

Washington, D.C., this year to lobby

on issues of critical importance for

the legal profession. They focused

on two programs that have been

targeted for elimination by the

Trump administration: the Legal

Services Corp. and the Public

Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

ABA Day, coordinated by the

Governmental Aairs Oce and

now in its 22nd year, featured hun-

dreds of visits in which participants

met face-to-face with members of

Congress from April 10 to 12.

“Any chance a lawyer gets to come

and participate in democracy directly

as we do here on ABA Day is a won-

derful and exciting opportunity,” says

Patricia Lee Refo, chair of the ABA

Day planning committee. “Whatever

team jersey we wear back home

we leave behind, and we bring our

ABA team jersey here and lobby

in a bipartisan way on issues that

impact the American justice system.”

NONPARTISAN PRIORITIES

Despite the administration’s

proposal to zero out funding for

the LSC, the program received a

$25 million increase for fiscal year

2018 that brought its funding to

$410 million.

ABA Day participants emphasized,

however, that 86 percent of low-

income Americans receive inade-

quate or no legal help for their civil

legal problems. They urged Congress

to restore the program’s funding

level to at least the inflation-adjusted

fiscal year 2010 level of $482 million.

They pointed out that LSC funds

provide support for legal services

oces in every congressional district

to assist numerous populations,

including domestic violence victims,

veterans, seniors, rural residents,

women and natural disaster victims.

The PSLF program was estab-

lished in 2007 to provide loan for-

giveness for qualified borrowers who

have made 120 timely payments

on their federal direct loans while

employed full time in public service

jobs for at least 10 years. But it has

been caught up in larger discussions

about higher-education aordability

as Congress considers reauthoriza-

tion of the Higher Education Act.

Without the PSLF, employers

would be unable to fill lower-paid

positions serving the public—such

as legal aid attorneys, public defend-

ers or prosecutors—because of the

staggering amount of student debt

most new lawyers have when they

graduate. ABA Day participants

urged Congress members to let the

“Whatever team jersey we wear back

home we leave behind, and we bring

our ABA team jersey here and lobby

in a bipartisan way on issues that

impact the American justice system.”

—Patricia Lee Refo

program continue to function as

envisioned until there has been

an opportunity to assess the pro-

gram’s impact.

Attendees added a last-minute

lobbying item to their list after the

Department of Justice announced

April 10 that it was pausing an

ABA-supported program that

assists people in immigration

detention facilities, so that a cost-

benefit analysis can be performed.

The Legal Orientation Program

provides instruction on legal

rights, individual orientations,

self-help workshops and pro bono

referrals to 53,000 people annu-

ally. A 2012 DOJ analysis found

the program saved taxpayers

$17.8 million per year.

On April 25, the DOJ reversed

its decision and said it will not

suspend the program’s funding

while the review takes place.

APPRECIATING ADVOCATES

This year’s Justice Awards, rec-

ognizing members of Congress for

their support of the LSC and their

leadership in the pursuit of justice

for all, were presented to House

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi,

D-Calif.; Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick,

R-Pa.; Senate Majority Whip John

Cornyn, R-Texas; and Sen. Dianne

Feinstein, D-Calif.

During the awards presentation,

Pelosi thanked the association for

its ABA Day advocacy. “We stand

with you,” she said, praising the

ABA’s “steadfast commitment to

an independent judiciary.”

ABA President Hilarie Bass

told ABA participants that the

impact of their eorts “will extend

far beyond your engagement dur-

ing ABA Day” and help the asso-

ciation “forge lasting relationships

that can be called up when other

important issues arise.” Q

This report is writ ten by the ABA

Governmental Aairs O ce and

discusses advocac y eorts by the ABA

relating to issues bein g addressed by

Congress and the executive bra nch of the

federal government. Rhonda McMillion

is the editor of ABA Washington Letter, a

Governmental Aairs Oce publication.