“With COVID-19 cases surging and U.S. deaths approaching 400,000, President-Elect Biden is meeting our national emergency with caring and determination. His American Rescue Plan has the necessary scope to halt our current decline and protect millions from hardship and harm. The President-Elect and his team have done the clear-eyed analysis to know that we cannot free ourselves of this combined health and economic disaster without ramping up an ambitious schedule of vaccinations and disease prevention alongside a robust package to help our people meet basic needs
Archives: Voices
Statement from National WIC Association’s CEO on Invasion of U.S. Capitol
Yesterday, we witnessed a shocking act of domestic terrorism that should shake every one of us to our core. At this moment, we can be nothing less than honest about what we saw. A conspiracy-crazed mob, incited by lies championed by the 45th President of the United States — at a rally organized to disrupt the solemn last step in the constitutional process of validating the federal election — invaded our sacred seat of American democracy, the People’s House – the United States Capitol building.
Faith leaders ask President-elect Biden to include low-income tax credits in COVID-19 relief package
Last weekend, 45 faith leaders signed a letter encouraging President-elect Biden to include expansion of low-income tax credits in his soon-to-be-released COVID-19 relief package. “Of the many challenges you face, one of the most urgent is helping all Americans emerge from the chaos, despair, and economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus-19 pandemic,” the letter states. “The pandemic has caused untold economic devastation to millions of Americans, particularly Brown and Black Americans, and while there are many policy options at your disposal we believe that expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) can play an instrumental role in assisting millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet.”
CHN Supports Constitutional Action to Remove Donald Trump from Office
President Trump has acted in violation of his oath of office and the law by inciting violent mob action and failing to take swift steps to protect lives and our nation’s democratic institutions. He has shown himself to be “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and should be removed, either by actions of Vice President Pence and the cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment to the Constitution, or by impeachment in the House of Representatives and conviction in the Senate.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship January 8, 2021
The they-warned-us-and-we-didn’t-listen edition. For months, medical experts warned us that COVID-19 cases likely would spike in the winter. It is happening. 4,112 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in the U.S. on Thursday, January 7 alone – the first time deaths in a single day exceeded 4,000. The daily death toll in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania also set records. Illinois became the fifth state to record its one millionth case since the pandemic began. In Arizona, which right now has a higher infection rate than any other state in the U.S., hospitalizations and deaths set records in the past few days; the state has seen more than 8,000 new cases a day, more than double the summer peak.
Jan. 6, 2021: What is at stake, and who must be held accountable
Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 never had to happen. And yet, given the obstruction of some elected officials — from the outgoing President to some members of Congress — it was almost inevitable. By now everyone knows the storyline. Protestors, egged on by Trump and encouraged by obstructionists in Congress, overran and occupied the U.S. Capitol – the first time the 220-year-old building had suffered such sacrilege since British troops partly burned it in 1814.
Who qualifies for the new $600 stimulus payments?
Just days after Christmas, some Americans awoke to a nice surprise: the new $600 stimulus payments had begun to show up in their bank accounts via direct deposit. While smaller than some advocates had hoped for, in some ways, this stimulus program was superior to the $1,200 checks approved by Congress last spring. One reason why: unlike what was passed last time around, mixed status families are now eligible for the payments – not only that, but they retroactively qualify for the $1,200 payments that were denied them last time.
Anti-hunger advocates praise Congress for nutrition assistance, but warn more will be needed
Food scarcity – already a problem in the U.S. in pre-pandemic times – is on the rise. We’ve all seen the miles-long lines of cars waiting to receive assistance at food banks. This holiday season, numerous major media outlets have published or aired stories about Americans going hungry, including all of the major TV networks. So it came as good news when Congress on Monday, December 21 voted on a COVID-19 relief package that includes $26 billion for nutrition assistance and agriculture and rural programs.
CHN’s latest Human Needs Report: Detailing the COVID-19 relief package, and 2021 appropriations
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest about the COVID relief and full-year funding legislation from Congress, and President Trump’s objections on the package.
CHN Urges Swift Enactment of COVID-19 relief package, calling it “long overdue”
The nation is in an emergency, and the COVID relief bill Congress has worked out is long overdue and must pass. This is urgently needed emergency relief, but it is far from all that is needed. The pandemic’s impact on our nation’s health and economy has been harsh and the recovery will not be swift. In January, the new Biden-Harris Administration and the new Congress must immediately work to remedy the failings and expand the important help about to be provided.
Community colleges and COVID-19: A disturbing educational opportunity gap is emerging
Last August, Paige McConnell became the first in her family to enroll in college, signing up for classes at Tennessee’s Roane State Community College. Two weeks later, she dropped out. McConnell could not make online classes work for her. She does not have WiFi at her rural home in Crossville, Tenn. She tried to go to the library, but their services were curtailed due to the pandemic. She even spent hours in a McDonald’s parking lot, using the restaurant’s Internet, but she kept getting kicked off the network. McConnell is hardly alone. Enrollment in every sector of undergraduate higher education is down this fall – but the decline is being felt most sharply among community colleges.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship December 17, 2020
The come together right now edition. A deal is said to be in the works, and it can’t arrive fast enough to stave off the misery plaguing millions of Americans – and millions more to come if Congress does not act immediately. A new study out this week shows 7.8 million Americans slipped into poverty over a five-month period that began when government aid dwindled last summer. That’s the first time that has happened in single year in the 60 years we’ve been collecting data on poverty. And more bad news is coming if Congress doesn’t act.