John,

I wanted to make sure you saw Deborah’s email from yesterday. This week, Congress introduced funding bills that cut critical programs and services relied upon by the most vulnerable communities.

Congress needs to put the needs of people with the lowest incomes first as they consider upcoming FY 2025 funding bills, including those facing food and housing insecurity, struggling with child care costs, and dealing with other hardships that make it harder to make ends meet. Instead of cuts, we must strengthen these investments―and we are urging members of Congress to reject cuts or harmful policy riders to funding bills.

At a time of skyrocketing CEO pay, stagnant wages for workers, and widening income inequality, House Republican appropriators have proposed drastic cuts to the Department of Labor, including:

• Cutting the budget for the National Labor Relations Board to $200 million―a third of its current funding

• Slashing worker protection, with the Wage and Hour Division would get cut by 10% and OSHA by 12%. These agencies are critical for addressing child labor violations, and much more.

• Blocking the DOL from carrying out a rule that would allow it to prevent businesses from misclassifying employees as independent contractors―thereby excluding employees from employment benefits and some worker protections¹

• Taking aim at the DOL’s expansion of overtime pay guarantees to workers²

None of these policies help the working class that our economy relies on. Instead, it adds additional burdens on workers and downgrades their quality of life.

America will not prosper if we don’t support our workforce and their ability to access affordable housing, child care, and education.

Rush a donation of $5 today to help us put pressure on Congress to reject these un-American cuts to critical programs.

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Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ DOL narrows business’ discretion on independent contractors
² New DOL regs make millions more workers eligible for overtime pay

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

The House of Representatives is moving funding bills that could take food, housing, and other key investments away from people with low incomes. Many people are facing food and housing insecurity, challenges with high child care costs, and dealing with other hardships that make it harder to make ends meet.

Instead of prioritizing funding for essential programs and passing bipartisan spending bills that adequately invest in human needs, House Republican appropriators want to include harmful cuts or policy riders in these bills that hurt people with the lowest incomes.

The proposed FY 2025 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill includes deep cuts and several policy provisions that would fail to help people in urgent need of housing assistance and cause greater harm moving us farther away from a country where everyone has an affordable home. In total, this is a $4.4 billion cut from FY 2024 levels at a time when housing unaffordability is reaching a tipping point. The bill would:¹

• Cut by 60% the federal program dedicated to constructing new affordable housing, despite a 12% increase in homelessness

• Eliminate legal aid and tenant protections for eviction prevention within the Housing Counseling program and prohibit use of HUD funds for certain other protections against housing discrimination

• Cut Public Housing operating and capital funds by 7%, expected to lead to many thousands of evictions; eliminates funding to address lead paint hazards in public housing

Continue reading below for more details on harsh attacks on critical programs and services. But if you’ve already heard enough, click here to donate to fight back today!

The proposed FY 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies funding bill is receiving a $24.6 billion cut below FY 2024 levels and includes:²

• An $11 billion cut below FY 2024 levels for Department of Education resources, including a 25% cut to Title I K-12 funding for schools in low-income communities―a program that provides critical support to low-income students to help close the education gap

• The House proposal eliminates “Title X” grants, which support family planning services for people with modest incomes, and cuts the HHS Maternal and Child Health program by 13%

• Funding cuts for the Social Security Administration which will result in longer wait times for seniors and delays to disability claims

• A decrease of 22% for the Department of Labor and 25% for the Employment and Training Administration, including total elimination of a major youth job training program and severe cuts to other job training and apprenticeship programs

• The elimination of the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and the Center for Disease Control’s Injury Prevention Center (including its funding for the Rape Prevention & Education Program, Suicide Prevention, Firearm Injury and Mortality Prevention research, and Opioid Overdose Prevention)

These extreme proposals are not in line with the wants and needs of the majority of Americans and must be rejected by Congress.

The Coalition on Human Needs is doing everything we can to fight back against these attacks on our neighbors and communities, but we need your support. Can you rush a donation of $5 today to help us push back against these extremist attacks?

The U.S. Census’s Household Pulse Survey data from this past May provide us an understanding of how many people in the U.S. are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. More than one in 10 adults report that they are behind in their rent, and of those not current in either rent or mortgage, nearly one in three say eviction or foreclosure in the next two months is either very likely or somewhat likely.³

Congress has more work to do to address housing, health, employment, child care, and home and community-based care for the aging and people with disabilities, all levels of education, heating and cooling assistance, affordable broadband, and many other unmet needs in the months ahead.  

The decisions made around investments to keep pace with need, adequate and fair revenues, and protections against dangerous cuts will have profound consequences for every American. We cannot allow the most vulnerable communities to be cast aside.

Donate $5 today to help us fight for significant investments in human needs programs to ensure the prosperity of our communities.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies FY2025 Fact Sheet
² Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies FY2025 Fact Sheet
³ Household Pulse Survey, April 30-May 27, 2024