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Jennifer Brugger, Northwest Justice Project
 Jennifer is a Northwest Justice Project staff attorney and a board member and volunteer at Kitsap Legal Services. She is a faithful EJC member while adhering to the Legal Services Corporation's regulations on lobbying.
"I participate in the Equal Justice Coalition to increase awareness of the importance of legal aid and funding for legal aid in Washington. The more we educate funders, decision makers and the community, the more we can make a difference for all people in Washington. We all need to work together to protect funding for legal aid by educating our legislators about the importance of legal aid to their constituents and the state's bottom line." Read the EJC interview with Jennifer.
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Susan Arney, Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program
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Susan and her dog, Legal Beagle.
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Susan has been a part of the Alliance for Equal Justice for six years. She recently attended a Town Hall Meeting to help the Equal Justice Coalition with our lobbying effort.
"If we expect our legislators to make good, informed decisions, WE have to keep them informed. We have a really good way of delivering a very important service and we need to make sure they know that, so that they can make good decisions when they are working on the budget. Legislators want to hear from their constituents. If they don't hear from us, how are they going to know what we think is important?" Read the EJC interview with Susan.
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State Funding Update:
 The Equal Justice Coalition has been working hard in Olympia to protect state funding for legal aid. The Office of Civil Legal Aid was not cut in the early action supplemental budget that the Governor signed in February. But there are still two more months left in the legislative session and the biggest challenge is ahead of us.
State Town Hall Meetings this weekend! This is a great opportunity to talk to your legislators about funding for civil legal aid. Find a Town Hall meeting in your district. If you aren't sure about your district, find out who represents you on the EJC website. Not sure what to say? Download our Town Hall fact sheet.
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Federal Funding Update:
Congress is making its decisions about the current Fiscal Year's budget (2011) and funding for the Legal Services Corporation is at risk. The U.S. House voted to cut LSC by $70 million for the remainder of this fiscal year, which would translate to a $1 million cut to the Northwest Justice Project. Prior to the budget vote, an amendment to eliminate LSC failed on the House floor. Seven out of Washington's nine U.S. Representatives voted to continue LSC funding: Dicks, Herrera, Inslee, Larsen, McDermott, Reichert and Smith. If you live in district 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 or 9, take a few minutes to thank your U.S. Rep. for protecting funding for civil legal aid. If you're not sure, find your district in our legislative action center.
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee announced its spending plan for FY2011 that would fund LSC at FY2010 levels, protecting it from reductions. Senators Murray and Cantwell strongly support LSC funding. |
| Alliance Comings & Goings
Welcome new staff and volunteers to the Alliance, and say good bye and thank you to outgoing colleagues!
- Benton Franklin Legal Aid Society in the Tri-Cities welcomes new bilingual Administrative Assistant, Victor Barajas.
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program welcomes new Program Director Judith Shoshana.
- Grant-Adams Volunteer Legal Services (GAVLS) is happy to welcome Rian Allred to its Board of Directors. Rian is an attorney at Schultheis Tabler Wallace PLLC in Ephrata, WA, and is the current Grant county Bar Association Vice-President.
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Kitsap Legal Services welcomes new board members Nancy
Nancy Austin, John Groseclose, Mike Liebert, Dan Jones, and Tom Weaver. KLS also hired Program Assistant Becky Brown last May.
- LAW Advocates in Bellingham welcomes new board members: Betsy Brinson, Doug Robertson and Junga Subedar. Long time board members Dennis Williams, Kirsten Barron and Ron Morgan will remain as advisers to the board. Their new chair is James Britain.
- LAW Fund welcomes Rima Alaily (Microsoft Law & Corporate Affairs) and Cindy Hennessy (AT&T Mobility LLC) to its board. LAW Fund Immediate Past President, Dick Manning, joins the Endowment for Equal Justice Board.
- In January, the Legal Foundation of Washington welcomed its newest board member, Liz Thomas.
- Northwest Immigrant Rights Project added a legal advocate to their Moses Lake office - welcome, Lionel Carmona!
- Skagit County Volunteer Lawyer Program welcomes its new Manager, Eva Wescott, a Seattle University Law School graduate.
- Submit your organization's Comings & Goings for the next newsletter.
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