Legal Services At Risk Under Mass. Senate Budget Plan

The Senate's proposed budget slashes aid to legal service agencies across the Commonwealth.

The proposed budget includes a 45-percent cut in funding for the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp., which funds agencies that provide free lawyers to low-income people.

Greater Boston Legal Services would lose more than $1 million in funding. Executive Director Robert Sable says he'll have to lay off staff, and that means thousands of people will be turned away.

"Without a lawyer, people will lose their housing when they might have been able to stay in it, they won't get access to health insurance when they might have been able to get it, they'll face domestic violence — and it's as stark as that."

Sable says these cuts come at a time when demand for their services is rapidly increasing.

Senators are considering tax increases to offset some of the proposed cuts.