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.

If you would like to receive the Human Needs Report by email, send an message to Adam Hughes with "subscibe Human Needs Report" in the subject line.

Articles from April 23, 2004

• Still No Budget Resolution - But Tax Cuts Moving Forward in the House
  House and Senate negotiators have been unable to reach a conference agreement on a budget plan for fiscal year 2005. The main sticking point is the insistence by key Senators that the budget deal include a rule that would require Congress to pay for new tax cuts and new spending by either cutting elsewhere in the budget or by raising revenues. These pay-as-you-go rules were approved by a 51 to 48 margin in an amendment sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI). Republican Senators John McCain (AZ), Lincoln Chafee (RI), Susan Collins (ME), and Olympia Snowe (ME) joined with all Democrats except for Zell Miller (GA) to vote in favor of the pay-as-you go amendment.
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• Four Budget Watchdog Groups Favor Budget Enforcement Rules
  At a news conference on Tuesday, April 20 a group of organizations concerned about the federal budget issued a joint statement supporting budget rules that would enforce fiscal discipline. Representatives from the four groups issuing the statement (the Concord Coalition, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Committee for Economic Development, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget) called on Congress to implement a pay-as-you-go rule as part of the federal budget that would require any new federal legislation be paid for - either by cutting other parts of the budget or by raising revenue. The four organizations are a diverse group of well-respected budget watchdogs that have come together to support budget rules to help counteract large budget deficits.
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• Bush Administration Moves To Make Financing Changes To Section 8
  The Bush Administration's fiscal year 2005 budget contained many proposals unfriendly to social service programs. One of the most worrisome proposals was President Bush's plan to drastically change the structure, rules, and funding of the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program.
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• Department Of Labor Revises Overtime Pay Rule Proposal
  Earlier this week the Bush administration announced they would make revisions to the controversial new overtime pay rules introduced in March of last year. The current overtime rules have guaranteed millions of workers overtime pay for decades - money that accounts for a significant portion of their overall income. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, almost 80 percent of workers are guaranteed time and a half for each hour they work over their mandatory 40 hours per week.
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