Editor’s note: The Coalition on Human Needs sent this letter to the Appropriations Committee and all members of the U.S. Congress on May 19, 2026. You can view a PDF of this letter including a list of all the organizations that signed the letter here. 

May 19, 2026

Dear Chair Cole, Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, and Ranking Member DeLauro:

The 526 undersigned organizations – representing the full range of stakeholders supporting the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill – urge you to continue your leadership in supporting families, communities, and local economies with a robust fiscal year (FY) 2027 allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee that ensures these programs can meet vital needs. We urge Congress to counter the many unilateral cuts and changes to these federal programs the Administration made in the last year that have already undermined Congress’s clear intention to invest in these vital services, and that do not reflect the public’s support for these programs. While we were generally pleased to see Congress, on a bipartisan basis, reject many of the Administration’s proposed cuts in FY 2026, we urge you to again reject the Administration’s FY 2027 request to slash these vital investments and instead to provide the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittees with an FY 2027 allocation that at least reverses past spending cuts in order to provide for the necessary services and programs this subcommittee oversees.

The programs and services funded by the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee have a profound impact on health and well-being, child development, educational and skills attainment, labor force participation, and economic productivity. However, these programs historically have been shortchanged in the appropriations process, especially after spending caps were first enacted in 2011 and then again under the caps for 2024 and 2025. In the last year, the Administration has withheld and cancelled funding for many of this Subcommittee’s programs and has fired many of the federal employees who oversee these programs, ensure that federal funding is provided as the law intended, and safeguard citizens’ access to programs and services – even though Congress has essentially maintained funding for many of these programs at the same level for three years. While we recognize and are thankful for provisions in the FY 2026 bill that aim to prevent these types of actions moving forward within some departments and agencies, we urge Congress to expand upon them to include in the FY 2027 bill provisions that insist that the Administration follow authorizing and appropriations law across all federal agencies, release the funding Congress enacted, provide the services required by statutes to all eligible entities, and maintain properly trained federal staff who are able to administer these services in an effective and timely manner.

The need for these key investments along with language that ensures that Congressionally-approved appropriations reach local communities is clear after they have been underfunded by billions of dollars in recent years as funding for essential services provided by the Labor-HHS-Education bill has not kept pace with population growth or inflation. The effects of chronic underfunding have impacted programs that support education, public health, health research, workforce development, and social services, and the President’s FY27 proposals would make things worse for many programs. The effects include:

• Eroding the public health and research infrastructure and workforce, limiting our ability to address disease prevention, respond to future health crises, and monitor ongoing health trends for new and emerging threats.
• Hindering efforts to address opportunity gaps and accelerate learning, to raise student achievement, to address shortages in the education workforce, and to increase high school graduation rates, college affordability, and college completion. The American public opposes eliminating the Department of Education and supports more education funding, not less.
• Providing childcare to only one in nine eligible children under age 6, with childcare providers paid so little that one in four early childhood educators takes a second job to make ends meet.
• Leaving far too many low-income children without access to high quality preschool and other early learning opportunities.
• Compounding on recent withholding of funding for lifesaving medical research, further distancing America from its longstanding global leadership in finding cures.
• Risking our ability to prepare for, monitor, and respond to public health threats that transcend international borders.
• Cutting efforts to adequately respond to ongoing opioid and fentanyl epidemics and infectious disease outbreaks, such as measles and tuberculosis.
• Reducing funding for mental health services, including services for children and for the homeless, and reducing funding for substance use disorder treatment, threatening continued progress in reducing overdose deaths.
• Putting many people with disabilities and older Americans at risk of losing their freedom, independence, and dignity without adequate funding for programs administered by the Administration for Community Living, such as Independent Living, Developmental Disabilities Assistance Act, and Older Americans Act programs. The result would be a return to more institutionalization, higher costs, and widespread harm to individuals and families.
• Neglecting 17.7 million Americans who are unemployed, underemployed, or want a job but are out of the labor force. This is more than two times the 6.9 million job openings employers currently report. In a slowing economy, federal workforce investments are what connect sidelined workers to the industries that are still hiring.
• Limiting the ability of jobseekers—many with the greatest barriers to employment — from accessing the critical workforce and job training services that Congress overwhelmingly authorized in 2014. The U.S. invests less than every other industrialized country in active labor market policy, except for Mexico and Chile, and would need to invest $80 billion annually just to reach the median of our international peers.
• Ignoring the needs of individuals who find themselves without a high school credential and who need a pathway back to education, employment, and full participation in their communities.
• Inadequate funding for heating and cooling assistance, despite increased costs for families. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the federal program providing help with residential energy costs, only has enough funding to serve 1 in 6 eligible households, with the Administration proposing to cut off assistance for 6 million households by zeroing out LIHEAP funding despite record high energy costs.
• While Congress started to reverse Maternal and Child Health Block Grant funding losses, funding remained flat at about 10 percent below the levels in FY 2010 when taking inflation into account.
• Failing to keep pace with growing child welfare needs, especially as communities grapple with the destructive impact of substance use disorders on families. Child Welfare Services funding, for example, has been flat-funded for years, leaving it well over 35 percent below the FY 2010 level, adjusted for inflation.

We urge you to commit to improving the lives of Americans with an allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education bill for FY 2027 that allows the bill to provide vital services for the American public. If you have questions about this letter, please contact:

• Jared Bass, Committee for Education Funding (bass@cef.org);
• Meredith Dodson, Coalition on Human Needs (mdodson@chn.org);
• Eric Gascho, Coalition for Health Funding (egascho@dc-crd.com); or
• Gail Silberglied, Campaign to Invest in America’s Workforce (SilbergliedG@nawb.org).

The letter remains open for signers until May 29, 2026. If your organization would like to sign on, please do so here. The list below reflects organizations that have signed on as of 3 PM ET, May 19, 2026.

National organizations:

• AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education)
• AASA, The School Superintendents Association
• Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research
• AcademyHealth
• ADAP Advocacy Association
• Adult Numeracy Network
• Advance CTE
• African American Health Alliance
• AFT: Education, Healthcare, Public Services
• After-School All-Stars
• Afterschool Alliance
• AiArthritis
• Alianza Americas
• All4Ed
• Alliance for Vision Research
• Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools
• American Academy of HIV Medicine
• American Academy of Nursing
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing
  American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
• American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
• American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
• American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges
• American Brain Coalition
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American College of Physicians
• American Council on Education
• American Educational Research Association
• American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• American Friends Service Committee
• American Heart Association
• American Kidney Fund
• American Library Association
• American Lung Association
• American Music Therapy Association
• American Psychological Association Services
• American Public Health Association
• American School Counselor Association
• American Society of Hematology
• American Society of Nephrology
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• American Thoracic Society
• ARPA-H GO
• Arthritis Foundation
• Association for Career and Technical Education
• Association for Multicultural Science Education
• Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
• Association of American Cancer Institutes
• Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
• Association of Community College Trustees
• Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP)
• Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents
• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
• Association of Population Centers
• Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO)
• Association of School Psychologists of Pennsylvania
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
• Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
• The Advocacy Institute
• The Arc of the US
• The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
• Autistic People of Color Fund
• Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
• Autoimmune Association
• AVAC
• Big Cities Health Coalition
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
• Can Code Communities
• The CDL Schools
• CenterLink
• The Center for Learner Equity
• Chiefs for Change
• Child Welfare League of America
• Children’s Defense Fund
• Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
• Climate Justice Alliance
• Coalition for Health Funding
• The Coalition for Hemophilia B
• Coalition for National Trauma Research
• Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE)
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
• Committee for Children
• Committee for Education Funding (CEF)
• Community Access National Network
• Compassion & Choices
• Computer Science Teachers Association
• Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Region
• Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)
• Council for Exceptional Children
• Council for Opportunity in Education
• Council of Administrators of Special Education
• Council of the Great City Schools
• CWI Works
• Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
• Dravet Syndrome Foundation
• Drug Policy Alliance
• E Pluribus Unum Fund
• Economic Policy Institute
• EDGE Partners
• EdTrust
• Endocrine Society
• Endometriosis Association
• Epilepsy Foundation of America
• Equal Rights Advocates
• Family Values @ Work
• Fight Colorectal Cancer
• First Focus Campaign for Children
• Foster Care Training Today
• The Forum for Youth Investment
• Friends of the Institute of Education Sciences
• Gerontological Society of America
• Green & Healthy Homes Initiative
• Healthcare Management and Systems Society (HIMSS)
• HealthHIV
• Healthy Teen Network
• Hemophilia Alliance
• Hemophilia Federation of America
• Higher Education Consortium of Special Education (HECSE)
• Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
• HIV Medicine Association
• HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute
• The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs
• Human Appeal
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association
• IC&RC
• Infectious Diseases Society of America
• Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)
• Institute for Policy Studies’ Poverty Project
• International Association for College Admission Counseling
• James’ Place Inc.
• Just Solutions
• Justice + Joy National Collaborative
• JustLeadershipUSA
• Kinnect
• KIPP Foundation
• Knowledge Alliance
• Lakeshore Foundation
• Lasker Foundation
• Lawyers for Good Government
• LEAD Coalition (Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer’s Disease)
• Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.
• Lupus Foundation of America
• Magnet Schools of America
• Mental Health Transformation Alliance
• Midwest Urban Strategies
• Mountain Plains Adult Education Association
• NAACP
• NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals
• NAESM, Inc.
• NARST: A Global Organization for Improving Science Education Through Research
• NASTAD
• National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
• National AHEC Organization
• National Alliance to End Homelessness
• National Association for College Admission Counseling
• National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement (NAFSCE)
• National Association for Gifted Children
• National Association for Music Education
• National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
• National Association of Counsel for Children
  National Association of Development Organizations
• National Association of Elementary School Principals
• National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS)
• National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• National Association of RSVP Directors
• National Association of School Psychologists
• National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
• National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB)
• National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
• National Center for Learning Disabilities
• National Center for Teacher Residencies
• National Center on Adoption and Permanency
• National Coalition for Literacy
• National Coalition for the Homeless
• National Coalition of STD Directors
• National Council for Community and Education Partnerships
• National Council for Mental Wellbeing
• National Council of Jewish Women
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• National Council on Aging
• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
• National Dance Education Organization
• National Disability Institute
• National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
• National Education Association
• National Energy Assistance Directors Association
• National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association
• National Health Care for the Homeless Council
• National Health Council
• National High School Equivalency Program (HEP)/College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) Association
• National HIV/AIDS Housing Coalition
• National Kidney Foundation
• National Korean American Service and Education Consortium
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• National Network of Public Health Institutes
• National Nurse-Led Care Consortium
• National Organization for Women
• National Organization of State Associations for Children
• National Patient Advocate Foundation
• National Psoriasis Foundation
• National PTA
• National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
• National Rural Education Association
• National School Boards Association
• National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)
• National Skills Coalition
• National Summer Learning Association (NSLA)
• National Urban League
• National Women’s Law Center Action Fund
• National Youth Employment Coalition (NN4Y)
• Natural Science Collections Alliance
• NBJC
• NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
• Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies
• New America Higher Education Policy Program
• Organization for Latino Health Advocacy
• Parkinson’s Foundation
• People Power United
• People’s Action Institute
• Planned Parenthood Federation of America
• PrEP4All
• Prevent Blindness
• Prevention Institute
• ProLiteracy Worldwide
• Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
• Public Health Institute
• Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
• Reproductive Freedom for All
• Results for America
• Rocky Mountain Workforce Development Association (RMWDA)
• Safe States Alliance
• Save HIV Funding Campaign
• SchoolHouse Connection
• Service Employees International Union
• The Sikh Coalition
• Sisters of St. Francis Leadership Team, Dubuque, IA
• Society for Biomaterials
• Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Society for Neuroscience
• Society for Public Health Education
• Society of Behavioral Medicine
• SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
• Student Association for STEM Advocacy
• TASH
• Teach For America
• Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children
• Tourette Association of America
• Treatment Communities of America
• Triage Cancer
• Trust for America’s Health
• UnidosUS
• Union for Reform Judaism
• United Church of Christ
• United for Cures
• Village to Village Network
• Voice for Adoption
• Voices of Health Care Action
• Vote Mama Lobby
• YMCA of the USA
• Young Invincibles
• Youth First Justice Collaborative
• Youth Law Center
• ZERO Prostate Cancer
• ZERO TO THREE

State and local organizations:

• AAPI Equity Alliance
• Access Technologies, Inc.
• Adirondack Executive Services
• Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.
• Advocates for Children of New York
• AIDS Foundation Chicago
• Alabama Association of School Psychologists
• Aliento Education Fund
• The Arc of Aurora
• Arizona Association of Lifelong Learning
• Arizona Association of School Psychologists
• Arizona Bleeding Disorders
• Arizona Early Childhood Alliance
• Ashland County Aging Unit Inc.
• Avalanche Care, Inc.
• BCW/Workforce Development Board, Inc.
• Black Children’s Institute of Tennessee
• Bleeding Disorders Association of South Carolina
• Bleeding Disorders Foundation of North Carolina
• Blue Ridge Independent Living Center
• California Association of Science Educators (CASE)
• California Child Care Resource & Referral Network
• California Small School Districts Association
• California Workforce Association
• Capital Region Workforce Development Board
• Cares of Southwest Michigan
• Cattaraugus-Allegany Workforce Development Board, Inc.
• Cayuga Cortland Workforce Development Board
• Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York
• Cerebral Palsy Associations of NYS
• Charlotte Trans Health
• Child Care Law Center
• Child Care Resource Center California
• Children’s League of Massachusetts
• Chinese for Affirmative Action
• Church of St Francis Xavier
• Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York
• Clackamas Workforce Partnership
• Coalition of CA Welfare Rights Organizations
• Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
• College and Career Readiness Center – College of Eastern Idaho
• Colorado Association of Science Teachers
• Columbia-Greene Workforce Development Board
• Cortland Works Career Center
• County of Sonoma Dept. of Health Services
• Delaware Association of School Psychologists
• Denver Economic Development & Opportunity
• Denver Public Schools
• Disability Law Center
• Disability Law Center of Utah
• Disability Law Center, Inc.
• Disability Rights Arizona
• Disability Rights Arkansas
• Disability Rights California
• Disability Rights Center – NH
• Disability Rights Center of Kansas
• Disability Rights Florida
• Disability Rights Iowa
• Disability Rights Louisiana
• Disability Rights Michigan
• Disability Rights Mississippi
• Disability Rights Montana
• Disability Rights Nebraska
• Disability Rights New Jersey
• Disability Rights New Mexico
• Disability Rights North Carolina
• Disability Rights Oregon
• Disability Rights Pennsylvania
• Disability Rights Rhode Island
• Disability Rights South Carolina
• Disability Rights South Dakota
• Disability Rights Washington
• Disability Rights Wisconsin
• Dominican Sister of Peace-Ministry of Presence
• East Boston Social Centers
• East Cascades Works
• Eastern Washington Partnership
• Family Focus
• Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences
• FeedMore Western New York, Inc.
• Finger Lakes Performing Provider System
• Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board
• Florida Association of School Psychologists
• Florida Chapter National Organization for Women
• FMS Workforce Development Board, Inc.
• Fresh Youth Initiatives
• Friends of Ruth B. Swann Park
• Frontier Centre For Community Empowerment FROCECE
• Garden State Employment & Training
• Gathering of Southeast WI
• Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness, Inc.
• Georgia Association of School Psychologists
• Glide Foundation
• GLOW – Workforce Development Board
• Grace Institute of New York
• Grace Outreach
• Grassroots DC
• Great Plains Association for College Admission Counseling
• Greater Orlando National Organization for Women
• GreenTree Co-op Market
• Grow Food Northampton
• Hawaii Appleseed
• Hawaii Children’s Action Network Speaks!
• Hawaii Disability Rights Center
• Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California
• Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc.
• Housing Works, Inc.
• Human Service Chamber of Franklin County
• Hunger Free Kansas
• Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education
• Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling
• Illinois Science Teaching Association
• Illinois Workforce Association
• Independence Alliance
• Indiana Association of College Admissions Counseling
• Indiana Disability Rights
• Indy Hunger Network
• The Indiana Workforce Alliance
• Institute on Disabilities at Temple University
• Iowa School Psychologists Association
• Jefferson-Lewis WDB
• Jewish Family Service of Colorado
• Kansas Enrichment Network
• KCC/CUNY
• Kentucky Association for Psychology in Schools
• Kentucky Protection and Advocacy
• Kindred Bakery BK
• Kingsborough Community College
• LaGuardia Community College
• Lakeside Community Committee
• Lewis University
• Long Beach Gray Panthers
• Los Angeles Unified School District
• Louisiana School Psychological Association
• Louisiana Workforce Association
• Maine Adult Education Association
• Maryland Workforce Association
• Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc.
• Mental Health Association Oklahoma
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• Michigan Association of School Psychologists
• Michigan Science Teachers Association
• Michigan Works! Association
• Mid Iowa Planning Alliance – Central Iowa Workforce Development Board
• Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities
• Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative
• The Montana Association of School Psychologists
• Naper Pride, Inc.
• National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles
• National Council of Jewish Women-PA
• NDALL: North Dakota Association for Lifelong Learning
• Neighborhood House
• Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center
• New Jersey Association for College Admissions Counseling
• New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHAA)
• New Jersey Association of School Psychologists
• New Mexico Adult Education Association
• New York Association of School Psychologists (NYASP)
• Niagara County Employment & Training
• NM Comunidades en Accion y de Fe
• North Carolina Association of Workforce Development Boards (NCAWDB)
• North Country Workforce Development Board
• North Dakota Protection & Advocacy Project
• Northwest Oregon Works
• Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board, Inc.
• Northwest Workforce Council
• Oasis Legal Services
• Ocean Bay Community Development Corp
• Oconee Food Council
• Ohio School Psychologists Association
• The Ohio Olmstead Task Force
• Ohio Workforce Association
• Oklahoma ABLE Tech
• Oklahoma School Psychological Association
• Orange County United Way
• Oregon School Psychologists Association (OSPA)
• Oregon Workforce Partnership
• Osborne Association
• Our Children Oregon
• PA Association for Adult Continuing Education
• Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling (PNACAC)
• Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling (PACAC)
• Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association
• Philly Neighborhood Networks
• Praxis Health Empowerment
• PRE4CLE
• Pro-Choice North Carolina
• Promise Arizona
• Putnam Progressives
• Rhode Island Coalition for Children and Families
• Rhode Island School Psychologists Association
• RochesterWorks
• Rogue Workforce Partnership
• Rural Schools Association of New York State
• San Diego for Every Child
• San Francisco AIDS Foundation
• Saratoga, Warren, Washington Workforce Development Board
• Science Council of NYC
• Serving At-risk Families Everywhere, Inc.
• SEWA-AIFW
• Silver State Equality
• Sisters of Charity, BVM
• Sisters of St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation
• Sisters of the Presentation, Dubuque, IA
• SkillSource
• SLC Workforce Development Board
• Small School Districts’ Association
• South Carolina Association of School Psychologists
• South Carolina Program for Infant/Toddler Care
• South Central Workforce Development Council
• Southeastern WI Workforce Development Board
• Southern Workforce Board
• Southwest WI Workforce Development Board, Inc.
• Spanish American Center
• Spokane Workforce Council
• Spring Lake Store
• St Nick’s Alliance
• St. Matthew Trinity Lunchtime Ministry
• Sueño Monarca
• Sunnyside Community Services
• SUNY Schenectady
• Tempo Group Counseling Services
• Tennessee Hemophilia & Bleeding Disorder Foundation
• Texas Association of School Psychologists
• TransCanWork
• Trying Together
• Turning Point, Inc.
• United Neighborhood Houses
• University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
• Urban League of Greater Philadelphia
• Utah Association of School Psychologists
• Utah Science Teaching Association
• Utahns Against Hunger
• Vivent Health
• Voices of Hope, Inc.
• Washington Assistive Technology Act Program (WATAP)
• Washington Defender Association
• Washington State Association of School Psychologists
• Washington Workforce Association
• Westchester-Putnam Workforce Development Board
• Willamette Workforce Partnership
• Wisconsin Bleeding Disorders Network
• Wisconsin Workforce Development Association
• Women Who Never Give Up
• Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment
• Workforce Colorado – Jefferson, Clear Creek, Gilpin
• Workforce Council of Southwest Ohio
• Workforce Development Board of HMO, Inc.
• Workforce Snohomish
• Workforce Southwest Washington
• Worksystems
• Wyoming County Community Action
• Wyoming School Psychology Association
• Yonkers Workforce Development Board