A Juneau lawmaker’s bill that seeks to increase state funding for free legal aid to vulnerable Alaskans passed into law without the governor’s signature last week.
House Bill 48 allows the Legislature to boost funding to the Alaska Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit that provides free civil legal aid to low-income Alaskans, beginning next fiscal year. It targets issues like housing disputes, domestic violence and tribal self-government.
While the U.S. Constitution guarantees people’s right to a criminal attorney, it doesn’t for civil cases. Maggie Humm, the nonprofit’s executive director, said the bill’s passing is a major milestone toward closing Alaska’s gap in access to justice.
“I think there is not always the recognition of how many legal problems individuals face, and particularly low-income individuals, and how impactful those legal issues, if they go unresolved, can be on a family,” she said.
Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, sponsored the bill. It passed both bodies with Republican crossover support in early May.
In an interview, Hannan said the change will allow the Legislature to provide more reliable support to the nonprofit to offer aid to low-income Alaskans who need legal aid but can’t afford it.
“The hope is that this is a much more stable and predictable amount of funding from the state to assist Alaska Legal Services with delivering legal services to poor Alaskans,” she said.
The bill received pushback from some legislators who said they were concerned about the cost as the state grapples with a long-running structural deficit.
Hannan argues the bill’s financial impacts won’t be felt until next fiscal year and said the change does not obligate the legislature to fund at a higher level, but gives it the ability to do so. She also argued the relatively small amount of money that would come from the change would have an outsized impact on many vulnerable Alaskans.
Right now, state law sets aside 10% of the fees paid annually to the Alaska Court System to go to the nonprofit. Once it goes into law, Hannan’s bill amends state statute to increase that to 25%, providing an estimated $400,000 in additional funding.
The change takes effect on Aug. 23.
