HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

189

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING PRESIDENT BUSH TO CHANGE his administration's position regarding the legal services corporation AND ALLOW LEGAL AID GROUPS THE FREEDOM TO SERVE A BROADER RANGE OF CLIENTS MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY.

 

 

WHEREAS, President Bush issued an executive order in December 2003 in which he commanded sweeping changes to remove barriers that prevent faith-based and grass-roots groups from doing more to help Americans in need; and

WHEREAS, the executive order allows federally financed charities to display religious icons and follow the tenets of their faith in selecting employees; and

WHEREAS, in contrast, a federal regulation adopted under a 1996 law passed by Congress and defended by the Bush Administration requires legal aid programs that receive financial assistance from the Legal Services Corporation to separate their government-financed activities from certain privately supported activities, resulting in impractical and costly administration; and

WHEREAS, the federal regulation also limits the ability of legal aid employees to divide their time between federally supported activities and activities the government will not support; and

WHEREAS, the federal regulation pressures nonprofit legal aid groups that wish to receive federal funds to give up doing some of the things that their clients most need; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that President Bush is respectfully requested to change his administration's position regarding the Legal Services Corporation and allow legal aid groups the freedom to serve a broader range of clients more efficiently and effectively, similar to the executive order's removal of barriers that formerly prevented faith-based and grass-roots groups from doing more to help Americans in need; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of Legal Services Corporation, and the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Faith-based funding