A lot happened on Capitol Hill right before the holiday break, while many other issues were kicked down the road and remain on the Congressional agenda for early 2018. Where do things stand? CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, with a brief rundown on Congress’s…
Archives: Voices
An affront to democracy
During the last week of December, with the halls of the U.S. Capitol nearly empty and millions of Americans paying attention to anything but the news, word emerged that a Department of Justice official formally has asked the Census Bureau to add a question to the 2020 Census about respondents’…
Immoral and un-American: Immigrant communities deserve the opportunity to grow, thrive, invent and contribute
Editor’s note: CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein issued the following statement Tuesday, Jan. 9 in response to the Trump administration’s announcement that it would end work authorization and legal protection for nearly 200,000 El Salvadorans living in the U.S.: “On Monday the Trump administration announced the latest step in its…
America’s deep freeze is no time to be stingy about heating homes of the poor
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published by CNN on January 4. Low-income families struggle to pay their home energy bills in the best of times, and these are not the best of times. Record cold temperatures are bearing down along the East Coast and across the Midwest, and, based…
Cuts by any other name
Over the holidays, Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, had an interesting op-ed published in the Washington Post. His New Year’s resolution to journalists and others: When talking about changes to the programs that make up our country’s safety net, do not say “reform”…
If our children are so ‘precious,’ we must invest in them
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published by the San Francisco Chronicle on December 23, 2017. We often hear how “precious” a child is, what a “treasure” she is, and how our kids are “our greatest resource.” Neuroscientists tell us that ages 0-3 are the most critical years for cognitive, social and…
The value of seeing and treating poverty as a health issue
In July of this year, Barry Ostrowsky, the CEO of RWJ Barnabas – the largest hospital-based health care provider in New Jersey — sat down with PBS talk-show host Steve Adubato to talk about RWJB’s recently developed “social impact initiative.” In Ostrowsky’s words: “It is an attempt to make communities…
Ryan, McConnell and Trump’s Failed Leadership
Congress’ leaders and President Trump care about getting tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations – that much has been established. But how about carrying out the most basic responsibilities of government? Such as: ensuring the stable continuation of health coverage for children and operations of community health centers; helping…
Tax Bill Grinch steals Christmas — and threatens America’s lower- and middle-income families
Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Tuesday, Dec. 19 in response to the tax bill passed today by the House and up for a vote in the Senate: “Today the tax bill Grinch stole Christmas and handed it over to…
Stealing Tips
Advocates for restaurant employees and other tipped workers are speaking out against a proposed rule that would make tips the property of employers, a proposal which opponents fear would lead to significantly less income for workers. The regulation from the Trump Administration’s Department of Labor, pushed by the National Restaurant…
“Monday is my 34th birthday. I probably won’t have many more.”
Health care advocates rallied at the U.S. Capitol Monday, part of a last-minute effort to defeat massive tax cuts – tax cuts that pose a potentially devastating threat to Medicaid, Medicare and other key programs. In an event that was part protest and part news conference, medical practitioners and patients…
Children and youth stuck in limbo while Congress fails to act
Editor’s note: This piece, written by Jessica Gehr and Wendy Cervantes of CLASP, was originally published on CLASP’s blog on Dec. 14. The lives of millions of children and youth hang in the balance because Congress has yet to act on two critical issues: the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance…