Vermont Bar Foundation asks Senate Judiciary for $525,000 to expand civil legal services

Bob Paolini of the Vermont Bar Association asked the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 7 to back a $525,000 funding request to expand civil legal services in Vermont, saying the sum includes a 5% administrative allowance for the Vermont Bar Foundation. "The document that I filed ... is the coalition's request for funding in the amount of $500,000. Actually, $525,000 with that 5% extra as administrative costs for the VBF," he told the committee.

The request is intended to supplement existing grant programs run by the Vermont Bar Foundation and other local providers, the witnesses said. Paolini and foundation staff described the proposal as a targeted, incremental step to increase access to counsel on the civil side of the justice system, including consumer debt, housing, victims' services and family law matters often handled without counsel.

Hannah, introduced to the committee as the executive director of the Vermont Bar Foundation, described how the foundation currently distributes Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) and other funds. "IOLTA funds, we are able to project out each year... but we know in the past, it's been over a million dollars comes in in IOLTA funds and the foundation, our job is managing that," she said. She told the committee the foundation operates a grants committee of six people plus nonvoting staff and typically awards funds to projects such as low-bono clinics or short-term funded attorney positions rather than to individual cases.

Committee members asked about grant criteria and administration. Paolini and the foundation representatives said decisions would be made by the foundation's grants committee and then the full board; projects that expand attorney capacity (for example, hiring attorneys for low-bono clinics) were described as priorities because they produce broader access than funding individual cases. The foundation noted that letter-of-intent deadlines and grant-review timelines are used to vet applicants; foundation representatives said they try to fund requests in full when feasible but must decline grants that do not align with priorities or appear sustainable.

Witnesses noted that IOLTA collections fluctuate by year but provide a predictable base of grant funds; the foundation also conducts separate fundraising. Paolini urged the Judiciary Committee to recommend the appropriation to the Appropriations Committee when the time comes. "We hope that this committee will consider this request and bring it down the hall to the appropriations committee at the appropriate time," he said.

The hearing record included a short discussion of current grantees and how federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding has been used by programs that serve crime victims; Paolini said uncertainty about VOCA and other funding streams affects whether current grantees can accept new referrals. No formal committee action or vote was taken at the hearing.

Ending: The committee heard multiple questions but took no formal vote; foundation staff and Bar Association representatives said they are available to provide additional information as appropriations deliberations proceed.