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employment, education, and transportation. This Committee works closely with the Statewide LA
Prisoner Reentry Initiative (LA-PRI)’s Legal Subcommittee, a program by the Louisiana
Department of Public Safety and Corrections, through which recommendations are presented to
address the most pressing issues people face upon release. Additionally, the Committee also works
closely with programs offering reentry legal services by assisting with volunteer attorney
recruitment through educational programming and CLE events.

Funding Committee, Chair Chris Ralston

The mission of the Funding Committee is to promote appropriate funding of the Louisiana Civil
Justice System. The focus is on state and federal funding issues.

State Appropriations

Past efforts of the ATJ Funding Committee have focused on a state appropriation for the
Louisiana Legal Services Programs. These efforts were successful for several years with
the state funding of $500,000 included in the Governor’s Executive Budget for the Legal
Services Programs. However, with changes of administrations and reduced state budgets,
since FY 2011, the Legal Services Programs have not received an appropriation.

Louisiana Appleseed has contributed to funding efforts by hiring lobbyists to assist the ATJ
Commission’s Funding Committee to obtain state funding for civil legal aid. The ATJ
Committee also coordinates efforts with the Louisiana Bar Foundation on its Campaign to
Preserve Civil Legal Aid, to benefit Louisiana’s civil legal aid community.
In July 2020, with a budget surplus, the Louisiana Legal Services programs received
$500,000 in supplemental funds for the FY2019-20. With increased coordination and
engagement of a lobbying firm, the Louisiana Legal Services Programs were able to obtain
a $500,000 appropriation for FY2020-21.

In recent years, Louisiana Appleseed and the Committee have hosted a breakfast to educate
legislators on the importance of civil legal aid to their constituents, the state, and our
economy. Additionally, members of the Funding Committee annually travel to Baton
Rouge to conduct an “ATJ Day at the Capitol.” This provides yet another event where
members of the Funding Committee and ATJ supporters can reach out to their legislators.
The committee prepares educational material that will be distributed to all legislators in
advance of this day.

The ATJ Director coordinates participation of LSBA leadership in ABA Day in
Washington DC, an organized lobbying event at which our Bar leaders meet with each
member of the Louisiana Congressional Delegation to encourage adequate funding of the
Legal Services Corporation, the major funder of Louisiana’s largest legal services entities.
This year Bar leaders participated in virtual meetings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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