A state senator wants to direct a larger share of filing fees paid to the court system toward a nonprofit legal aid organization that helps several thousand Alaskans a year with their domestic violence, family law, housing, elder advocacy and other cases.
The 56-year-old Alaska Legal Services Corp. “is part of our social safety net,” helping the most vulnerable community members, particularly survivors of domestic violence, said Anchorage Sen. Forrest Dunbar, sponsor of the legislation.
Senate Bill 104 would amend state law to direct up to 25% of the filing fees paid to the court system each year go into a civil legal services fund which the Legislature could appropriate to the aid organization. State law since 2018 has directed 10% of the filing fees to the fund.
If Dunbar can win legislative approval for his bill, and if lawmakers amend the state budget to reflect the higher transfer, it could boost state funding for the Alaska Legal Services Corp. from about $300,000 a year to $750,000. The court system takes in about $3 million a year in filing fees, which flow into the state general fund for appropriation.
Even with that increase, state funding for the nonprofit would be just 60% of what it was in 1984, while the number of Alaskans eligible for legal aid has tripled during that same period, according to the organization.
Alaska Legal Services Corp., with offices in a dozen communities, including Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka in Southeast, serves about 7,000 people a year. Its 2021 budget was about $6.5 million, with federal funds comprising the single-largest revenue source.
The agency doesn’t help with criminal cases, only civil. And it’s limited in how much it can help with civil matters: It turns away about half its callers for lack of funds and staffing. The organization refers to that deficiency as “the justice gap” in its support material for Dunbar’s bill.
The legislation has passed out of its first Senate committee and is waiting for a hearing in Senate Finance. After that, it would need a vote in the full Senate and then House action before it could go to the governor for the final step in the process. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn by May 17, presenting a tight schedule for the bill this year.
Winning approval of the change in law to boost the available funding source would not result in additional money for the legal aid agency unless the budget is amended to spend the money. Adding the spending to the budget will be the bigger challenge, Dunbar acknowledged.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has not been a strong supporter of state assistance for Alaska Legal Services Corp. He vetoed the entire legislative appropriation in 2019, his first year in office, only to accept the budget item after lawmakers restored the funding.
In 2021, he vetoed more than half of the legislative appropriation for the organization, calling it a subsidy.
The organization also provides legal services for veterans, people with disabilities and consumers, and has devoted additional resources in recent months to assisting Alaskans who have waited months for the state to review their applications for food stamp benefits.
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