Federal Legal Aid Corporation Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.
Federal Legal Aid Corporation Act - Declares that the purpose of Congress is to make the institutions of justice available to all regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, or personal health. Establishes as a nonprofit corporation in the District of Columbia the Federal Legal Aid Corporation, to be brought into being by a board of directors, composed of seven members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. States that the purpose of the Corporation shall be: (1) to render financial assistance to the States to enable the provision of legal assistance to qualified individual citizens who are indigent and in need of professional legal services; (2) to assist in the provision of legal services to eligible clients by obtaining and making available information of a technical nature to those rendering legal services to eligible clients; and (3) to, consistent with provisions of this Act, set forth such procedures and regulations governing the use of Federal funds as may be authorized for expenditure by the Corporation. Establishes the following powers of the Corporation: (1) to assign and disburse appropriated funds to the several States; and (2) to contract with a private or public group, association, or organization for the purpose of doing research into special legal problems encountered by eligible clients. Requires the Corporation to use appropriated funds only for the purpose of making legal assistance available to individual eligible clients and to pay authorized expenses. Prohibits the Corporation from using appropriated funds or from commingling such funds with other funds being used for the following purposes: (1) to initiate, organize, support, represent, or assist any training program, workshop, seminar, school, publication, newsletter, club, association, group, organization, demonstration, boycott, meeting, rally, march, strike, or any other activity, group, or institution; (2) to support or oppose, directly or indirectly, any candidate for public or party office, or any political party; (3) to represent any person less than eighteen years of age without formal written consent of one of said person's parents or guardian; or (4) in a manner which tends to discriminate in favor of or against individual attorney, employees, or clients, on grounds of race, religion, sex, or national orgin; Requires that the Corporation shall not: (1) initiate or defend litigation on behalf of clients other than the corporate entity itself; (2) seek to influence, nor shall any funds appropriated or disbursed by it be used to influence the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress or State or local legislative bodies or otherwise support any group or association advocating or opposing any legislative proposals, ballot measures, initiatives, referendums, executive orders, or similar enactments or promulgations. Prohibits the use of Corporation funds for any of the following purposes: (1) to provide legal services with respect to any criminal proceeding or, in the case of juveniles, proceedings which would be criminal if involving adults; or (2) for any of the political activities described in this Act, or to contribute to or in any way assist any group or association participating in such activities; (3) to maintain any action at law until such time as any and all administrative remedies provided for in applicable contracts have been exhausted; or (4) to represent any person who fails to meet eligibility standards established in accordance with this subsection. Requires the Corporation to evaluate annually the program for provision of legal services to eligible clients. Authorizes the Corporation to terminate disbursal of funds to any State whose program involves discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, or national orgin in the provision of legal services to eligible clients. Sets criminal penalties for violation of any provision of the Corporation's powers, requirements and prohibitions. Sets forth procedures for qualifying states for assignment of funds from the Corporation. Prohibits the Corporation from interfering with any attorney in carrying out his professional responsibility to anyone who has become his client, or from abrogating the authority of a jurisdiction to enforce adherence by any attorney to applicable standards of professional responsibility. Authorizes the Corporation to require reports form the States, and to prescribe the keeping of records of funds. Requires the Congress to publish an annual report to the President and to the Congress. Requires an annual audit of the accounts of the Corporation. Requires that the report of such audit shall be available for public inspection.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 21, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 21, 1973: Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
LAWRENCE FOUNTAIN (D-NC) introduced it on June 21, 1973, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 21, 1973, 19439 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19439 days ago, on June 21, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers