Archives: Voices

CHN commends Senate’s appropriations vote; urges future House-Senate conferees to avoid poison pill amendments

Editor’s note: Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Friday, Aug. 24 in response to Senate passage of the combined $854 billion Labor-HHS-Defense-Education appropriations bill. “We commend Senate passage of the Labor-HHS-Defense-Education appropriations bill on a bipartisan 85-7 vote. The bill includes additional…

Join Us: Sept. 6 CHN Webinar To Preview New Census Data

Unemployment is down, but workers’ pay is losing ground. Did low-income people make gains in 2017? What is helping? What is standing in the way? On Thursday, Sept. 6 from 2-3:30 p.m. ET, CHN will host its annual Census webinar to help prepare advocates for the new data coming out…

Protecting immigrant children from abuse

On Aug. 16, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on what federal agencies are doing – or rather, aren’t doing enough of – to protect unaccompanied migrant children from abuse and human trafficking once they enter the U.S. Witnesses from the U.S….

GOP tax law isn’t just about taxes — it’s undermining American health care

Editor’s note: The op-ed excerpted below was written by Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, and Margarida Jorge, co-director of Health Care for America Now! It was originally published by The Hill on Aug. 9. On Aug. 12, the New York Times editorial board published a piece titled,…

Comment now to stop thousands from being kicked off Medicaid

If the Trump Administration and some state officials have their way, hundreds of thousands of low-income people could be kicked off Medicaid and left without any health insurance coverage. That’s because several states are pushing to add harsh work requirements to Medicaid assistance. We’ve written in the past and compiled…

We did it! 250,000 comments submitted. You demanded a fair and thorough 2020 Census.

We’ve been telling you about efforts by the Trump Administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census – you can read earlier posts about this issue here and here. Together with a broad and diverse coalition of groups, we asked our supporters to submit comments to the U.S….

Seven reasons the Trump Administration’s short-term health plans are harmful to families

Editor’s note: This piece was written by Cheryl Fish-Parcham, Director of Access Initiatives at Families USA. It was originally posted on Families USA’s website on August 1. For more information on the so-called “short-term insurance” plans and other threats to the Affordable Care Act, see the July 23 Human Needs Report. …

Journeys: Timely New Book Examines Immigrants’ Stories

Editor’s note: The following blog post is authored by CHN intern Paige Brigham, a rising senior at Allegheny College. The story of Ahmed Ahmed began in his home country of Somalia, where his father worked his way out of poverty to provide a comfortable life for a family of ten….

Zero Tolerance at the Border a Disaster for Families

At Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts,” Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) minced no words. He said, “If families and children are going to be kept in federal custody they must be kept in facilities where they will be treated humanely, and with…

Trump Top Priorities

Of course we know President Trump wants to build a border wall.  Yesterday he threatened to shut down the government over funding for it.  But that’s not his Administration’s only priority.  Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin announced that they’re studying whether they can provide another $100 billion tax break…

Every person should count — and be counted.

This week, 131 groups, including the Coalition on Human Needs, joined two lawsuits aimed at preventing the U.S. Commerce Department from including a citizenship question in the 2020 Census. The moves come as CHN, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a broad host of other grassroots, advocacy,…