John,

Last night, the Senate passed a one week Continuing Resolution to avoid a partial government shutdown. This measure gives Congress a few more days to pass an omnibus spending package that will fund critical government programs through September 2023.¹

With the details of the spending package expected to be released on Monday, we have only a few days left to ensure funding for critically needed programs are in the final package.

Click here to send a message to your senators and representative to demand increased funding for human needs in the omnibus spending bill being negotiated right now. From housing to child care to heating assistance, families and working people need support to deal with rising costs now.

Due to rising costs on everything from food to energy to housing, congressional funding for domestic programs has lost 11% of its value over the last 12 years with many human needs programs losing far more.² And with higher inflation, flat funding in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill would amount to a cut to critical programs for those most in need.

Rent prices are skyrocketing so much that last year more than 40% of people with household incomes of less than $50,000 were paying half or more of their income on rent. Many of the COVID-19 rent protections have expired and we’re now seeing eviction rates reach pre-pandemic levels, leaving low- to moderate-income families risking homelessness if the affordable housing crisis isn’t addressed.

Children’s Mental Health funding has dropped 18% since FY2010 and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has seen its funding plummet by 40% since 2010, taking inflation into account. Even before the pandemic, families were struggling to find affordable child care, but after experiencing a global pandemic, the elimination of the expanded Child Tax Credit, and historic inflation highs, families have reached a breaking point.

Send a letter to Congress demanding they include funding for critical human needs programming in the must-pass, end-of-year spending bill.

It’s said that a budget is a moral document because it reveals our priorities and values as a society. So we must ask Congress, do we value lifting millions of children out of poverty? Do we value everyone having safe, affordable housing?

When the new congressional session begins on January 3rd, we will have a divided government, which means passing legislation regarding critical programs and funding will be significantly more difficult to pass. There’s one week left to pass an end-of-year spending bill that would address several of society’s ailments and the decisions made in the next few days will reverberate for generations to come.

Thank you for all you do to support vulnerable children, families and working people,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ https://www.npr.org/2022/12/15/1142386863/congress-passes-continuing-resolution-avoid-government-shutdown
² https://www.cbpp.org/blog/congress-should-finish-2023-appropriations-now-rather-than-punting-until-the-next-session