Human Needs Report

The Human Needs Report is the Coalition on Human Needs' newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. It is published every other week while Congress is in session.

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Articles from February 4, 2005

• What to Expect in the President's Budget - Human Needs Cuts
  On Monday, February 7 the President will send Congress his plans for next year's budget. The White House has already begun disclosing information about what to expect – including cuts and freezes for programs serving the Americans most in need. This budget season may well be the worst in many years for low-income people and the services they need. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities speculates that the President's budget will place an unfair share of the burden for deficit reduction on programs that serve low-income people, even though these programs are not major contributors to the deficit.
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• Grassroots Organizing to Fight Social Security Privatization
  President Bush has begun to campaign in several states to promote his proposal to privatize and partially dismantle the guaranteed benefits program under Social Security. Organizations opposed to this plan are a step ahead in mobilizing opposition. US Action, the Campaign for America's Future and several other organizations have joined forces and are starting to place staff in key states to mobilize voters and arrange high-visibility events throughout the country. (More >)
  
• House TANF Bill Introduced; Hearing Planned
  On the first day of the 109th Congress, Representative Deborah Pryce (R-OH) introduced a TANF reauthorization bill (H.R. 240). Although there is not yet a comprehensive analysis, it appears the Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2005 is similar to H.R. 4, which passed the House in the 108th Congress by a vote of 230 to 192  in February 2003. (More >)
  
• WIA Reauthorization Bill to be Marked Up in House Subcommittee
  The House Subcommittee on 21 st Century Competitiveness is considering a bill to reform the job programs under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. The bill, H.R. 27, the Job Training Improvement Act of 2005, is co-sponsored by Howard McKeon (R. CA), Chairman of the subcommittee, and John Boehner (R. OH), Chairman of the full Committee on Education and the Workforce. The bill is similar to one passed by the House in the previous Congress, H.R. 1261. (More >)