ABA Day in Washington

L to R Vermont in DC: President Dan Maguire, Representative Peter Welch, ABA Board member Fritz Langrock, VBA ED Teri Corsones and President-Elect Gary Franklin

President Dan Maguire, President-Elect Gary Franklin, Executive Director, Teri Corsones and ABA Board of Governors member, Fritz Langrock all traveled to Washington, DC this week for the American Bar Association's annual "lobby day." During the trip, they will attend meetings with each of our three Congressmen and/or their staff as part of a nationwide lobbying effort of attorneys.

As always, the focal part of the ask is to insure that Congress continues to fund the Legal Services Corporation to provide civil legal aid to low-income constituents.  While the main goal is to insure that the funding is not cut or eliminated as threatened, our state delegation will also be asking Congress to restore funding to the inflation-adjusted Fiscal Year 2010 level of $483 million (from last year's $385 million). This year's  efforts also include requesting preservation of the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) to help those who choose to go into the field of public service.  This program lowers the primary barrier --student loan debt--that is keeping new graduates from pursuing public service careers.

Between and during meetings, they managed to get a few pictures in...