John,

Congress wants to go home and enjoy Thanksgiving next week—but they are on the brink of leaving families most in need worried about whether they can put food on the table, heat their homes, or keep their children in child care so parents and caregivers can get to work.

The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) yesterday that would keep some of the government funded through January 19th, with other funding bills extended through February 2nd. And while the funding bill didn’t contain harmful policies or spending cuts, it also didn’t include necessary increases to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), child care, or the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

As the CR now moves to the Senate, it’s critical that increased funding is added to those programs to lift the strain off vulnerable communities. Send a direct message to your senators today urging them to increase funding for child care, nutrition, and energy programs now.

Participation in WIC has greatly increased and participation over the past few months has already exceeded the projected levels for FY2024. An increase in funding is welcome and necessary: in previous years, only about half of eligible families participated; in the six months from October 2022 to March 2023, participants rose by about 200,000 to nearly 6.6 million. Grocery prices are still high and many people who qualify for WIC are trapped in low-paying jobs that don’t provide benefits.¹

Congress shouldn’t force WIC programs nationwide to be uncertain about whether there will be enough funding to last a full year—they must ensure states continue to serve all eligible families in the short-term and add resources to the final funding bill to ensure mothers and young children are able to access the essential nutrition they need at such a critical time in their lives.

Congress must also prioritize child care as funds that helped to stabilize the child care industry expire. More than 70,000 child care centers could close, leaving 3.2 million children without child care.² The current CR that’s keeping the government funded through Friday did not include emergency funds to stabilize the child care industry.

A precipitous loss of child care will push parents out of work at a time when the economy needs workers. Even before the additional funding ended, 1 in 5 women with children under 12 reported they lacked child care in the previous month. Nearly 7 out of 10 of these women experienced an economic cost—either fewer work hours or a lost job.³

We applaud President Biden for requesting an addition $16 billion in child care funding to keep more than 220,000 child care centers open that would serve more than 10 million children.⁴

Millions of Americans are experiencing higher energy bills as the temperatures drop. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the cost of home heating for those using electricity is expected to remain at about last year’s level of $1,060 while the cost of home heating with heating oil is projected to increase from $1,720 to $1,850.⁵

Several states have reported that applications for energy assistance are up by 20% from last year’s levels and that if additional funding is not provided, they will be forced to reduce the number of households served by up to 1.5 million households, reduce average benefit levels, and shut-down their summer cooling programs.⁶

For many struggling families, higher prices can mean being forced to choose between heat, food, or medication. About 29% of Americans who were surveyed had to reduce or forego expenses for basic household necessities to pay an energy bill in the last year.⁷ It’s so dire that about 20 million families now owe $16 billion to their local utilities or about $800 per family, up from about $8 billion or $400 per family prior to the start of the pandemic.⁸

Congress can help solve this crisis by providing an additional $1.6 billion in supplemental funding for the LIHEAP program (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) as requested by the Biden administration, in addition to the program's base funding of $4 billion in order to address increased costs for home heating and cooling fuels.⁹

For these urgent needs, the Senate and the full Congress should immediately add funds to prevent families from losing the food, heat, and child care they need. And then Congress should immediately get to work to pass bipartisan full-year appropriations bills that meet needs and reject the cuts proposed by the House.

Send a message to your senators today, telling them to increase funding for critical nutrition, child care, and energy programs.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ USDA August 2023 Keydata Report
² WIC Needs Additional Funding to Avoid Forcing New Parents and Young Children Onto Waiting Lists
³ Child Care Cliff: 3.2 Million Children Likely to Lose Spots with End of Federal Funds
⁴ National Women’s Law Center, High Shares of Women with Children Under 12 Lack Access to Child Care As the Child Care Funding Cliff Approaches
⁵ State Breakdown: The Biden-⁠Harris Administration’s Funding Request Would Help Prevent Families Across the Country from Losing Child Care
⁶ Winter Fuels Outlook 2023–2024: A supplement to the Short-Term Energy Outlook
⁷ National Energy Assistance Directors Association Letter to Congressional Leadership
⁸ Week 36 Household Pulse Survey: August 18 – August 30
⁹ Nearly 20 million households are behind on their utility bills