Narrowly avoiding a government shutdown, the president signed a stopgap spending bill this week. The short-term measure, which passed the Senate on Wednesday, will fund the government through Dec. 11, and includes new funding for farm aid, as well as $8 billion in additional funding for nutrition programs.

“This bipartisan continuing resolution will keep government open, prevent a devastating shutdown, and allow additional time to negotiate full-year appropriations bills,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.). “I am particularly pleased that Democrats prevailed in securing nearly $8 billion in desperately needed nutrition assistance for struggling Americans.”

With the continuing resolution complete, attention quickly turned back to negotiations on a phase IV stimulus bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met this week to discuss a possible path forward. Following her meeting with the Treasury secretary, Pelosi released a statement, saying, “Today, Secretary Mnuchin and I had an extensive conversation and we found areas where we are seeking further clarification. Our conversations will continue.”

At the same time, the House is moving forward with a slightly smaller version of the Heroes Act, which would provide $2.2 trillion in new stimulus spending, compared to the $3.4 trillion proposed in the previous version of the bill. The updated legislation was released early in the week and passed the House on Thursday. It would extend the weekly $600 in federal unemployment benefits through the end of the year, provide $50 billion in emergency rental assistance and allocate $21 billion to states and localities to support struggling homeowners.

With only a few weeks until the election and the Senate GOP working towards confirmation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Barrett, the passage of a fourth relief package remains an uphill battle.

The Urban Institute recently examined the “homelessness-jail cycle” and how to break it. The Urban Institute surveyed interactions with the justice system and emergency services, including police contacts and emergency room visits, and found that those experiencing unsheltered homelessness had far more incidences than people living in shelters. “Frequent interactions with the justice system can trap people in a homelessness-jail cycle, rotating them in and out of jails and emergency public services,” the Urban Institute warned.

This week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced the creation of a $48 million affordable housing fund, called the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund. “The funding will help close the financing gap for developers to build new or preserve existing affordable housing units in the city,” the Detroit News reported. The public-private partnership fund received contributions from JPMorgan Chase and the Kresge Foundation. NHC’s David Dworkin commented on the fund in a Detroit Free Press article, calling it a “model for the rest of the nation” because it brings multiple partners together and addresses the development phase of creating affordable housing. “Detroit needs investment but we need to ensure that it doesn’t result in displacement and the time to do that is now while housing is still affordable. Most cities miss this opportunity and it costs them much more in the long run to play catch up,” he said.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is tracking the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on American households, including their access to food, safe housing and employment opportunities. CBPP found that one in seven adults with children reported experiencing food shortages within the past seven days; among these families Black and Latinx households were more likely to experience food insufficiency than their White cohorts. CBPP also reported that one in six renters were behind on rent, with Black, Latinx and Asian renters experiencing the greatest hardship.

In response to the collapsing middle class, Brookings unveiled a new report, entitled “A New Contract with the Middle Class." “Since our nation’s founding, the American Dream has always been based on an implicit understanding – a contract if you will – between individuals willing to work and contribute, and a society willing to support those in need and to break down the barriers in front of them,” said Brookings. This contract however is being strained by wage stagnation, “fragile finances, poor health and precarious employment.” The report offers policy recommendations and principles for moving forward.