Students from coast to coast walked out of school today, with many observing 17 minutes of silence in memory of the 17 victims of the most recent mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The National School Walkout was loosely organized by EMPOWER, the youth…
Archives: Voices
The real reasoning behind Medicaid work requirements
Back in January, I wrote a piece for this blog about a move by the Trump administration to allow states to impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients. Since then, three states – Kentucky, Indiana, and Arkansas – have received federal approval to allow them to establish work requirements for adult…
Rallying for the Dreamers
Dreamers and their advocates gathered Monday in at least a dozen communities throughout the U.S. as a Trump-imposed six-month deadline for resolving their immigration status came and went with no action from Congress. In Washington, D.C., advocates flooded Capitol Hill to pressure lawmakers to reach a deal – and it…
The Human Needs Report: Spending and budget work, immigration proposals, gun control measures, and more
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on Congress’s spending and budget work, immigration proposals, gun control measures, and much more. Click here for a PDF version. Appropriations Work Continues as Congress Approaches March 23 Deadline Appropriators continued negotiations through the weekend…
A bit of good news for some Dreamers, but a real solution is needed
Dreamers, whose lives have been turned upside down in the past few months, received a small amount of good news on Monday. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to speed up the legal fight over ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The notice came just one…
Condescension in a box: The Trump administration’s SNAP proposal
Earlier this month, as part of its overall budget plan, the Trump administration proposed a radical restructuring of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. The changes would involve $213 billion in cuts over a decade, and one fundamental change would mean that just over 80…
Janus vs. AFSCME: An attack not just on labor unions, but on lower- and middle-income America
Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Monday, Feb. 26 in response to oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus vs. AFSCME. “Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could adversely affect millions of working…
Resources from around the Coalition: Trump FY19 budget edition
On Feb. 12, the Trump administration released its Fiscal Year 2019 budget request. Since then, CHN’s members have been busy analyzing the proposal and pointing out the many ways it would slash basic human needs programs and harm low-income people. Listed below are just a few of these analyses and…
The Human Needs Report: President Trump’s FY19 budget request special edition
CHN just released a special edition of the Human Needs Report focusing on President Trump’s FY19 budget request, including sections on select departmental budgets. Click here for a PDF version of the Human Needs Report. The Trump FY19 Federal Budget Slashes Critical Human Needs Programs The Trump administration released its Fiscal…
CHN to Senate: Vote for a Narrow Solution for the Dreamers; Oppose Harsh Restrictions
Editor’s note: CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein sent the following letter today to all Senators in advance of their votes on various immigration proposals: “The national organizations making up the Coalition on Human Needs urge you to enact legislation narrowly drawn to protect the Dreamers, those people brought to this…
Will Congress grant free rein to predatory payday lenders?
UPDATE: H.R. 3299, the bill referenced below, passed the House by a vote of 245-171 on Feb. 14. See how your representative voted here. Last month, Voices for Human Needs reported on efforts by the Trump administration to repeal an Obama-era rule aimed at curtailing the predatory practice of payday lending. Not…
Human Needs Report: Spending and budget deal, immigration, work requirements and more
CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on Congress’s spending and budget work, immigration, work requirements, and a rule affecting tipped workers. Click here for a PDF version of the Human Needs Report. Overnight Shutdown Ends after Budget and Spending Deal is Reached…