Feature: Letters to Congress

National Group Sign-On Letter Urges Congress to Quickly Enact No Less Than American Rescue Plan
February 5, 2021

On February 4th, over 100 national organizations including the Coalition on Human Needs called on the United States Congress to enact swiftly no less than what is called for in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Without speedy and comprehensive action, "...families that could have managed will be pushed into poverty and deaths that could have been avoided due to the pandemic will occur."

CHN letter to all U.S. Senators demands COVID-19 relief
September 25, 2020

CHN on Friday, Sept. 25 sent a letter to all 100 U.S. Senators demanding COVID-19 relief. It reads in part, "The pandemic has imperiled your constituents’ economic well-being and their health. COVID-19 cases are again rising, and as we enter the colder months, the threat will increase. The moratorium on evictions expires at the end of the year. If you leave now without acting, millions of people, unable to come up with one or more months of unpaid rent, will face eviction."

CHN’s letter to all members of the U.S. Senate urging Senators to extend U.S. Census reporting deadlines
August 10, 2020

CHN's letter to all members of the U.S. Senate urging Senators to extend statutory reporting deadlines for apportionment and redistricting data for the 2020 Census to April 30, 2021, extend the deadline to transmit state population totals to that date, prohibit the Bureau and the President from sending the relevant data to the Congress in advance of those deadlines, and to allocate $400 million to address Census Bureau operational challenges.

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS

CHN comments on the SNAP proposed rule on Standard Utility Allowance (SUA)
December 4, 2019

USDA should not seek to reduce the value of the SUA in any state, but should consider appropriate steps to increase benefits in certain states. USDA should be strengthening the positive impacts of SNAP for health, well-being and economic activity, not making cuts to SNAP benefits. The members of the Coalition on Human Needs strongly oppose the proposed rule and request the USDA withdraw the rule and work with states to improve their SUA’s under existing flexibility.

Center for Children and Families: The Number of Uninsured Children Is on the Rise
November 15, 2019

The number of uninsured children increased by more than 400,000 to more than four million nationwide between 2016 and 2018, reversing a long-standing positive trend and erasing many of the gains achieved after major provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect. Behind these numbers are millions of families struggling to make ends meet and get their kids the health care they need to succeed.

CHN submits additional comments to USDA in opposition to proposal that would restrict SNAP eligibility, cut school lunch
November 4, 2019

CHN has submitted additional comments specifically related to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s revised estimate of the impact on school meals’ participation due to the proposed rule change related to Categorical Eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). CHN is very concerned to see USDA’s new analysis of the number of children expected to be moved from the free meals to reduced price meals category or to lose access to subsidized meals altogether because 545,000 households with school-aged children may no longer participate in SNAP under the Categorical Eligibility change proposed. The huge increase in the number of children who could lose free school meals (from about 500,000 to 982,000 children) should alone cause USDA to withdraw this proposed rule.