Coalition on Human Needs (CHN)

The group was founded in 1981 in opposition to President Ronald Reagan’s proposal to consolidate funding of many welfare programs into block grants and has continually advocated for the expanding funding of many welfare programs within government funding bills. The organization is funded by left-leaning advocacy groups and labor unions such as the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Center for Popular Democracy; the Center for American Progress; and the National Education Association. ^{1 2}

Background

The Coalition on Human Needs was founded in 1981 by left-leaning organizations and labor unions opposed to a proposal by the Reagan administration to “consolidate federal funding for human needs programs into block grants.” The organization promotes the expansion of many federal government welfare programs such as food stamps, as well as the expansion of the Affordable Care Act and the child tax credit. Throughout its history, the organization has consistently supported Democratic efforts to increase spending on entitlements and has generally opposed Republican-led efforts to reform or make cuts to federal spending on entitlement programs. ^{2 3}

Policy Stances

The Coalition for Human Needs has supported increased funding for many programs including food stamps, the expansion of the child tax credit, and expanding state-level Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act. It also has supported left-of-center immigration policy. ⁴

On immigration, the organization criticized the Biden administration’s use of Title 42 at the U.S.-Mexico Border, claiming that the policy is “inhumane and is a Trump-era policy that disproportionately harms Black and Brown migrants.” The organization signed a letter that called on the Biden Administration to end restrictions on “asylum seekers traveling through other countries.” ⁴

The organization supports the continual increase or suspension of the federal debt limit, calling on Congress to increase or suspend the debt limit at the end of 2022. ⁵ The organization also issued mixed reviews of the FY2023 omnibus government funding bill passed in December 2022, criticizing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other Republicans for insisting on ratcheting down funding for domestic welfare programs, calling the Republican priorities a “Grinch-y approach to the nation’s needs.” ³

Activities

Voices for Human Needs

“Voices for Human Needs” is an activism blog organized by the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN). It explains CHN’s position on topics including budgeting, legislation, education, health, and immigration. ⁶ CHN opposes the Trump administration and its cuts to government spending. On June 30, 2025, the executive director of Coalition on Human Needs and CHN Action, Deborah Weinstein, sent a letter to the Senate asking Senators to reject the budget package. She wrote, “We [at CHN] strongly oppose the Senate package given the structural changes to SNAP, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) […] the Senate budget bill will raise costs [for] people with low incomes with harsh reductions in the Child Tax Credit, support for public K-12 education and green energy credits.” ⁷ The letter continued with Weinstein proposing that the bill’s main purpose was to provide corporations with extreme tax breaks. ⁷

Human Needs Watch

Human Needs Watch is an online resource used to track the impact of proposed and passed legislation by the second Trump Administration. ⁸ In June 2025, CHN, cited a document from the University of Pennsylvania which estimated that the House’s budget reconciliation bill would result in 51,000 deaths per year. These numbers come from predictions by the Congressional Budget Office that 10.9 million Americans will be taken off Medicaid, Medicare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and a study by the Commonwealth Fund stating that the number of uninsured working age people in the U.S. was likely to increase once the bill passes. ⁹

The article also cited Resource for the Future (RFF) which proposed that the average energy rate would be up $400 by 2035 as a result of repealing the energy tax credits and carbon dioxide emissions would increase since fewer investments would be made in solar, wind, and electrification. ¹⁰

Resource Libraries

The Resource Library is a resource where CHN compiles policy and research data provided by its coalition partners to further advocate their own goals. It contains sections on state and local data about health insurance, income, and housing, the federal budget, and poverty data surrounding health insurance, food, and income. ¹¹

Affiliated Organizations

Organizations that are listed as members of the Coalition on Human Needs include 9to5, AFSCME, the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, Americans for Democratic Action, the Campaign for America’s Future, Catholic Charities USA, the Center for American Progress, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, Food Research and Action Center, the Economic Policy Institute, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the National Education Association, UnidosUS, the Salvation Army, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). ¹