PILSF increase before Supreme Court

December 4, 2024

A petition before the Wisconsin Supreme Court would increase the Public Interest Legal Services Fund (PILSF) assessment for the first time in 20 years. PILSF is WisTAF's only stable funding source for civil legal aid grants.

This week, the WisTAF Board of Directors filed comments with the Court affirming that the additional resources proposed by the petition could dependably be put to use in meeting some of Wisconsinites' unmet civil legal needs, which are significant.

Created by the Court nearly 20 years ago, PILSF is funded by an annual assessment of $50 which Wisconsin’s actively practicing judges and attorneys pay into the fund. These resources go to WisTAF for funding civil legal services. Adjusted for inflation, the assessment's value has fallen to only $31 in today's dollars.

The proposal would respond by increasing the assessment twice: first to $75 on July 1, 2025, then to $100 on July 1, 2027. Increasing this integral piece of the funding mix would also help mitigate declines many civil legal aid providers are facing in federal Victims of Crime Act funding as well as the imminent sunsetting of COVID-related funding streams in 2025.

WisTAF's letter affirming the feasibility of the proprosal will appear on the petition page at the Court's website.

Petitioners include the Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission, Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund, Judicare Legal Aid, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Disability Rights Wisconsin, ABC for Health, and Centro Legal.