Will Indigent Defense Be A Hidden Victim Of The Economy?

Thanks to Patrick O'Donnell for pointing me towards this post over at Legal Ethics Forum.  There's been a good discussion - with valuable links - pondering the future of indigent criminal defense funding.  As states feel serious tax revenue loss, they will inevitably look for ways to hack costs.  We know that one common site for this trimming is compensation for appointed counsel.  Public defender money seems comparatively constant - even though these offices can take hits during recessionary periods.  But the hourly/piecework rates for individual appointed counsel sometimes seem like an easy cut.

This is clearly something folks need to study and follow.  Is there room for federal legislation in this area?  Something a little more palatable - to say nothing of effective - than AEDPA-style coercion?