John,

We are at a precarious moment. We’re almost halfway through FY2024 and Congress has not yet set funding levels for federal services. Congress has lurched from one deadline to the next, with another emergency stop-gap funding bill expiring this Friday at midnight, potentially leading to a partial government shutdown.

But finally, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a package of six critical spending bills in a few hours, with the Senate to follow later this week. Most attempts by extremists to insert poison pill policy riders into this week’s bills have been rejected. But these extremist members still want to add poison pill riders that have nothing to do with the budget. They are intended to harm immigrants and their families, attack LGBTQIA people, undermine protections against discrimination and diversity and inclusion training, reduce protections for workers, and rescind important climate protections.

Time is of the essence. Our coalition is strongly urging Congress to reject any and all poison pill riders and get back to what’s most important: putting the needs of people with the lowest incomes first as they finalize FY2024 spending bills.

Congress needs to hear from all of us now. Send a direct letter to your members of Congress, urging them to quickly pass spending bills without poison pill riders.

We strongly support the $1 billion increase in funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which will allow the program to avoid a once-in-a-generation crisis of placing some WIC recipients on waiting lists or turning them away altogether. It is estimated that 2 million parents and young children could have been turned away from WIC by September without that crucial funding boost, and we appreciate the continued bipartisan commitment to fully fund WIC.¹ Many of you raised your voices to fully fund WIC — and the package on the House floor does just that!

We also support the package’s modest increase in funding for rental housing programs―though not enough to meet the nation’s overwhelming shortage of housing assistance and affordable housing―this critical increase will maintain rental assistance vouchers at a time when increased housing costs threaten the ability of many to stay in their homes.

The package includes new vouchers for an estimated 3,000 households, targeted to veterans experiencing homelessness and youth aging out of foster care, along with a big increase in Homelessness Assistance and an important increase for the Native American Housing Block Grant program.

People are struggling to make ends meet and keep their heads above water. It’s imperative that Congress listens to us and prioritizes helping those with the most need including families struggling with child care and energy costs, children and staff who experience the impact of investments in Head Start, K-12 education, skills training, and higher education. Congress must quickly pass the first spending bill package, and prioritize human needs as they finalize remaining bills.

Join us in sending direct messages to Congress, urging them to put the most vulnerable first and reject poison pill riders to FY2024 spending bills.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ About 2 Million Parents and Young Children Could Be Turned Away From WIC by September Without Full Funding