Feature: Letters to Congress

National Group Sign-On Letter Urges Congress to Quickly Enact No Less Than American Rescue Plan
February 5, 2021

On February 4th, over 100 national organizations including the Coalition on Human Needs called on the United States Congress to enact swiftly no less than what is called for in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Without speedy and comprehensive action, "...families that could have managed will be pushed into poverty and deaths that could have been avoided due to the pandemic will occur."

CHN letter to all U.S. Senators demands COVID-19 relief
September 25, 2020

CHN on Friday, Sept. 25 sent a letter to all 100 U.S. Senators demanding COVID-19 relief. It reads in part, "The pandemic has imperiled your constituents’ economic well-being and their health. COVID-19 cases are again rising, and as we enter the colder months, the threat will increase. The moratorium on evictions expires at the end of the year. If you leave now without acting, millions of people, unable to come up with one or more months of unpaid rent, will face eviction."

CHN’s letter to all members of the U.S. Senate urging Senators to extend U.S. Census reporting deadlines
August 10, 2020

CHN's letter to all members of the U.S. Senate urging Senators to extend statutory reporting deadlines for apportionment and redistricting data for the 2020 Census to April 30, 2021, extend the deadline to transmit state population totals to that date, prohibit the Bureau and the President from sending the relevant data to the Congress in advance of those deadlines, and to allocate $400 million to address Census Bureau operational challenges.

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS

NLIHC: Out of Reach — The High Cost of Housing
January 29, 2019

Out of Reach documents the gap between renters’ wages and the cost of rental housing. The report’s Housing Wage is the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest rental home without spending more than 30% of his or her income on housing costs. It is based on HUD’s Fair Market Rent (FMR), which is an estimate of what a family moving today can expect to pay for a modest rental home in the area.

NLIHC: The Gap — A Shortage of Affordable Rental Homes
January 29, 2019

The U.S. has a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable and available to extremely low income renters, whose income is at or below the poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income. Only 35 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low income renter households. Extremely low income households face a shortage in every state and major metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia.

OSAH: Within Reach — Ambitious Federal Solutions to Meet the Housing Needs of the Most Vulnerable People
January 24, 2019

The report, entitled “Within Reach,” argues that stronger federal action is long-overdue to ensure that the most vulnerable low-income households can afford safe, decent rental homes. The report identifies three long-term policy strategies that are essential for Congress to act upon.