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(USGovernment-News.Com, April 01, 2013 ) Los Angeles, CA -- A major state organization that provides legal representation for the less fortunate of New Jerseyans has asked the Senate Budget Committee for additional state aid on Wednesday. The organization cited the prevention of layoffs as the reason for being given the aid.
Steep drop-offs in funding sources has forced Legal Services of New Jersey in order to reduce its staff from 720 to under 400 within the last half-decade. Only one in six low-income residents seeking legal representation can currently receive it. President Melville D. Miller told the committee says he was preparing to lay off 30 more employees in the near future.
“This is really a make or break it year for us,” Miller said. “Every day we’re forced to ration justice in New Jersey.”
Although Governor Christie has made it clear he is ready to propose level funding for the organization in the next fiscal year, Miller stated that steep cuts from other sources have caused the agency to fall into a sort of desperation mode. The organization is currently functioning under a $40 million budget, which is down from $70 in 2008.
The group was founded in the 70s in order to provide legal assistance for low-income residents who were unable to afford proper representation. Poor criminal defendants receive representation through the Public Defender's Office, which is a separate agency of the state.
Christie has recently laid out a $33 billion spending blueprint for the last month that would avoid all tax increases, as well as increases in spending on public sector pensions and education. The Senate Budget Committee was at the William Paterson University in Wayne, and attached to the lawmakers' efforts to add input to Christie's overall proposal prior to the voting, which will occur on July 1.
Miller requested that the committee offer $10 million in immediate state aide to stabilize the agency.
“We need to get back on a positive track,” Miller said. “We’ve got to begin to restore capacity.”
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