Obama proposes budget increase for Legal Services but it is still less than what the agency says it needs

A couple of weeks ago I reported that last November the federal government enacted a bill that slashed federal funding for civil legal assistance to the poor by about 14% — from $404.2 million to $348 million, which is the lowest level since 2007.

Today, the blog of the Legal Times is reporting that President Obama has urged Congress to give the Legal Services Corp. $402 million for fiscal 2013, which is a 15.5% increase from the current $348 million budget.

If approved, that would be the good news.  The bad news is that the new budget would still be $68 million under  the budget proposed by the LSC, the independent agency that provides civil legal aid to the poor.