Florida Senate - 2010                            (NP)    SR 2736
       
       
       
       By Senator Fasano
       
       
       
       
       11-02290-10                                           20102736__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution honoring the attorneys and staff of
    3         Florida Legal Services and recognizing their
    4         dedication and commitment to representing vulnerable
    5         Floridians in the civil justice system.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, many residents of this state continue to struggle
    8  in poverty, unemployment is at an all-time high at nearly 12
    9  percent, more than a million Floridians are out of work, more
   10  than 500,000 Florida homeowners found themselves in foreclosure
   11  proceedings in 2009, up 213 percent from 2007, 2.5 million
   12  households lack sufficient money to put food on the table and
   13  are currently receiving food stamp assistance, and, on any given
   14  night, there are about 57,000 Floridians without homes for
   15  shelter, and
   16         WHEREAS, in 1973 The Florida Bar, working with then
   17  Governor Reuben Askew, formed Florida Legal Services to expand
   18  the availability of civil legal assistance to the poor in
   19  Florida, and
   20         WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature has recognized the
   21  importance of civil legal assistance to the poor and the
   22  improvement of access to justice by passage of the Florida
   23  Access to Civil Legal Assistance Act, and
   24         WHEREAS, today there are 31 legal aid programs and 480
   25  attorneys serving the residents of the state’s 67 counties, and
   26  each year the legal needs of more than 98,000 Florida families
   27  are addressed by these programs, and
   28         WHEREAS, legal aid attorneys and their support staff
   29  protect the most vulnerable Florida residents from continued
   30  domestic violence, prevent scam artists from victimizing the
   31  elderly, and respond to situations involving mortgage fraud,
   32  denial of health care, and much more, and
   33         WHEREAS, Florida Legal Services, working with local legal
   34  services and legal aid attorneys throughout the state, has
   35  successfully worked with the Legislature to secure legal
   36  protections for people moving from welfare to work and for
   37  Medicaid recipients, to regulate day-labor operations, to win
   38  legal protections for the homeless and residential tenants, and
   39  to enact restrictions on predatory mortgage lending practices as
   40  well as enhanced regulation of title loan operations, and
   41         WHEREAS, Florida Legal Services and legal aid attorneys and
   42  staff demonstrate commitment, dedication, and excellence in
   43  securing access to justice for this state’s most vulnerable
   44  residents, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That the dedicated attorneys and staff of Florida Legal
   49  Services are recognized for their commitment and tireless work
   50  on behalf of Floridians who, otherwise, would go without
   51  representation in the civil justice system.