A congressional agreement for Fiscal Year 2012 funding would provide $348 million to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Of that, $322.4 million would fund basic field grants for the delivery of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans.

LSC is currently funded at $398.1 million under an interim FY 2012 bill that expires on November 18. LSC currently provides $372.9 million in grants to 136 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.

The House-Senate conference agreement would cut LSC’s overall funding by 13.9 percent and funding for basic field grants by 14.8 percent. The agreement is scheduled to be taken up for a vote on the House floor this week.

The House had proposed $300 million in LSC funding for FY 2012, and the Senate had recommended $396.1 million.

Funding for LSC rose to $420 million in FY 2010 and dropped to $404.2 million in FY 2011. The last time LSC was funded at $348 million was in 2007.