Legal Services Corporation

In response to congressional interest in congressional funds spent on programs involved, directly or indirectly, in political, cultural, institutional, ideological, and/or economic advocacy, this report provides information on the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). GAO presents data on the activities of the 16 grantees, referred to as national support centers, that received funds from LSC in 1990. GAO discusses (1) the amount and the sources of the centers' funding, (2) their principal activities, (3) the estimate of funds spent on lobbying activities, and (4) the makeup of their boards of directors. GAO also discusses recent findings of monitoring reviews done by LSC on each center's funded activities.

GAO found that: (1) in 1990, the 16 national support centers received 53 percent of their funds from LSC; (2) LSC funding sources varied between federal, private, and non-LSC public funds; (3) the centers used LSC grant funding for common activities including legal research and analysis, litigation, production and distribution of publications, and training; (4) the centers used $104,000 of the $7.2 million in federal LSC funds for permitted lobbying activities; (5) national support centers were required to establish provision assistance priorities; (6) most centers complied with their priorities, but some centers failed to obtain adequate participation from client populations in needs-assessment surveys; and (7) few centers engaged in prohibited legislative and administrative lobbying activities, however, some centers failed to comply with recordkeeping, publication, and board of directors appointment regulations.