August 6, 2009
STATE BAR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT GETNICK CALLS FOR
SENATE APPROVAL OF MORE THAN $5 MILLION IN CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES
FUNDING
Letter to Senate Leaders Urges Immediate Action to
Fund Vital Programs in New York
In a letter sent yesterday to State Senate leaders, New York State
Bar Association President Michael E. Getnick (Getnick, Livingston,
Atkinson & Priore, LLP of Utica and of counsel to Getnick &
Getnick of New York City) urged the State Senate to approve a
resolution, which would allow for distribution of more than $5 million
in civil legal services funding, when the Senate reconvenes for a
special legislative session today in Albany.
“In the best of economic times, the needs of low-income New
Yorkers for civil legal services have far outpaced available
resources,” Getnick wrote. “State funding for providers of
civil legal services remains critical in helping to address the needs of
homeowners who are facing foreclosure or the parents trying to obtain
child protection services for their children. In today’s economy,
these funds are even more essential.
“When the Senate reconvenes, I will again request that it take
immediate action to approve any resolution necessary to release and
distribute this important funding, so as to help the indigent and
vulnerable people who rely on these civil legal services,”
concluded Getnick.
The more than $5 million in funding includes $4.4 million from the
Department of State’s budget for legal services and $609,000 from
the Division of Criminal Justice Services’ budget, both of which
were approved as part of the 2009-10 state budget adopted by the State
Legislature in April.
To view a full copy of President Getnick’s letter to Senate
leaders, please visit http://www.nysba.org/CLSFundingLettertoSenate.
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The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official
statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the largest voluntary
state bar association in the nation. Founded in 1876, State Bar programs
and activities have continuously served the public and improved the
justice system for more than 130 years.
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