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Nominated by Dori Rapaport

"Minnesota's Legal Services Coalition (on behalf of Civil Legal Services programs statewide, referred to as CLS) began working with Ms. Becker-Finn in 2020 when she was appointed the Chair of the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee regarding state funding for Civil Legal Services (CLS). Before working with Ms. Becker-Finn, CLS’s funding over the last few decades kept legal aid at the same capacity with minimal increases to staff salaries. Turnover was at 37%, salaries were the lowest in the public sector, and as a statewide system we were turning away over 55% of everyone eligible who needed our help.

Ms. Becker-Finn not only recognized how critical civil legal aid is for low-income Minnesotans, but she was the first representative to say the status quo is completely unacceptable. She asked us, “What will it take to fully fund a functional civil legal services system in Minnesota?” We told her the number, and it not only gave her a clearer idea of what is needed to fix this access to justice crisis, but it validated our deep understanding that we have been operating with an incredibly broken system. Ms. Becker-Finn made it clear that CLS and the public defenders, the criminal and civil justice systems that impact the most disparate populations and disenfranchised communities in Minnesota, would be her priority to improve.

In the 2023 legislative session, CLS received a monumental increase in funding, and Ms. Becker-Finn championed this tremendous effort. CLS received an 87% increase in its state appropriation, changing the face of civil legal services statewide. Her efforts have decreased our turnover to now 20%, salaries are now competitive in the public sector, and in just 9 months we have increased our capacity by nearly 10%. Ms. Becker-Finn’s efforts here have impacted the lives of the most vulnerable, the most under resourced communities, and the most likely to have to navigate the justice system alone, which is not justice. The impact Ms. Becker-Finn has and will continue to have for these thousands of Minnesotans cannot be understated. Ms. Becker-Finn’s advocacy was rooted in her personal and professional understanding of how communities are impacted by our civil (and criminal) justice system."