Out of spite, GOP lawmakers freeze a NC fund that supports legal help for the poor | Opinion
It’s fair to assume that most Republican state lawmakers – like most of the public – never heard of an entity within the North Carolina State Bar known as Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, or IOLTA.
But when those lawmakers heard that IOLTA provided grants to so-called “leftist” groups that provide free legal services, they leapt into action.
The first step was passing a bill in June with a provision that imposed a year-long freeze on millions of dollars that IOLTA awards annually.
The next step was to haul Peter Bolac, the Bar’s executive director, and Mary Irvine, IOLTA’s executive director, before the House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform in October. They were asked to explain under oath why IOLTA was funding groups that oppose laws passed by the Republican-controlled legislature.
The scenario was reported by The Assembly, which explained how the funding freeze will reduce legal services for immigrants, domestic violence victims, renters facing eviction and others. Legal Aid of North Carolina, the largest recipient among 35 groups receiving IOLTA funding, will lose $6.3 million next year. The nonprofit law firm, which serves all the state’s 100 counties, announced that the funding freeze has forced it to close or consolidate nine offices and cut 45 staff positions.
Legal Aid Board Chair Jeff Kelly said in a news release, “This freeze must be lifted immediately. Legal Aid of North Carolina is a vital resource for our state, especially in rural counties where it may be the only legal help available.”
It’s remarkable that Republican lawmakers, who can’t pass a state budget or figure out what to do about funding Medicaid, food assistance or public schools, can mobilize to block dollars going to nonprofits even though the money does not involve state funds.
The hearing transcript reads like another chapter in the MAGA purge of diversity, equity and inclusion policies and any progressive view of the U.S. past or present.
Committee chair Harry Warren, R-Rowan, opened the hearing by explaining that IOLTA, which has operated since 1983, “distributes income from lawyers’ general trust accounts to fund legal services and other programs for the public’s good.”
But, apparently, some of the recipients are not so good.
“We’ve heard from a number of folks that IOLTA does good work, and we have seen evidence of that, but IOLTA has also gone somewhat rogue, awarding grants to leftist groups with leftist ideologies,” Warren said.
Those groups, according to Warren’s review, include the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Carolina Migrant Services, the Children’s Law Center, Emancipate NC and the North Carolina Justice Center.
The groups have offended Republicans by opposing a state law requiring local police to cooperate with ICE, criticizing the state prison system and saying that a state law that slapped letter grades on school performance is “a legislative tool for stigmatizing non-white schools.”
Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said freezing IOLTA funding is “partisan tomfoolery.”
“Nonprofits providing legal services are an essential component for helping impacted communities survive,” Lukens said in an email. “Cutting funding to those nonprofits is both cruel and short-sighted.”
Republican committee members acknowledge that the groups are free to say what they want, but they’re worried that IOLTA funds provide room in the groups’ budgets for political activity.
Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, told the Bar officials that because of their “willingness to engage” with the groups “you now face a public perception issue, and that is why you find yourselves here.”
Actually what they face is the Republican perception issue.
Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, is not on the oversight committee, but as a former district court judge she said freezing IOLTA’s grants is a partisan – and possibly illegal – overreach.
“The state is trying to dictate how nongovernmental grant monies will be spent,” she said. “The message is that any assistance which goes to public-need recipients that do not adhere to the Republican conservative agenda will be cut. It is a travesty and will hurt those who need legal assistance the most.”
Now Republican lawmakers are considering unfreezing funding for some groups, an approach that will send them deeper into selecting who can represent the poor based on their political views.
IOLTA has provided a worthy public service for more than 40 years. Lawmakers should go back to knowing nothing about it.
Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Out of spite, GOP lawmakers freeze a NC fund that supports legal help for the poor | Opinion."