Civil legal aid getting no increase in budget

"Civil legal aid supporters say 57,000 low-income people who are eligible for assistance are turned away each year and are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker not to veto funding from an annual state budget plan that offers no new money to address the problem.

The House and Senate this spring went on record in support of spending bills adding $2 million for civil legal aid, but a six-member conference committee on Friday wiped out that increase and the branches quickly ratified the conference's budget. The budget retreated from an array of investment initiatives, part of adjustments to a more than $700 million markdown of expected tax receipts in fiscal 2018."

Continue Reading