ALBANY — The New York State Bar Association wants state and federal funding dedicated to ensuring that the poor have access to civil legal services like fighting eviction in the down U.S. economy.

The 76,000-member association’s Executive Committee has adopted 2010 legislative priorities including a new commission to set statewide standards for court-appointed defense attorneys and lifting federal restrictions on Legal Services Corp. funding.

The lawyers’ group said Monday that steadily funding civil legal services would protect individual rights and save government dollars otherwise spent on social services, housing and debt.

The association is also urging legal recognition of same-sex couples, higher pay for New York judges and more federal judges.