RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update March 9, 2021
Quote of the Week
“There’s nothing you can do in your life in your, in your activist life, that will be more important. There’s nothing I can do in the House and Senate that will be more important the rest of my career.”
– Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on the March 2021 RESULTS National Webinar, speaking about making the new EITC and CTC changes permanent
Table of Contents
- Global Poverty Campaigns Update
- U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
- RESULTS Announcements
- Upcoming Events
- Grassroots Resources
Global Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Submit appropriations requests to members of Congress.
Got Twenty Minutes? Schedule First 100 Days Campaign lobby meetings and make your appropriations requests
The COVID-19 relief bill is on its way back to the House for a final vote. We are thrilled that within it is $11 billion for international development, with $3.5 billion of that going to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Now is the perfect time to keep the momentum going as we set our sights past relief to real recovery. This is the time for you to book meetings with your representatives and senators so that we can get our appropriations requests in their hands. We’ve got appropriations memos and companion laser talks on global nutrition, tuberculosis, and education. Members of Congress can submit these requests to the leadership of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittees of Appropriations. Ask if there are deadlines for hearing from constituents on appropriations and ask if the offices have request forms that need to be filled out. (Let your Regional Coordinator or staff know if you need help with those forms.) You may need to submit your appropriations requests before you have your meeting with an office. That’s just fine; you can use your meeting to reinforce your message.
To help you get your meetings scheduled and to help you make your requests, use our draft meeting request letter, meeting request laser talk, and campaign request sheets available on our Lobbying support page. You can also get support for scheduling your meetings via our current Action Sheet. We’ve got the goal of meeting with 100 percent of the Senate and 75 percent of the House. So far, we’ve reached 48 percent of the Senate and 19 percent of the House. Let’s keep going!
TAKE ACTION: Use the appropriations memos and laser talks to make appropriations requests of your members of Congress. Remember to check with offices on what their internal deadlines are for receiving these requests, and then submit right away. Book a meeting with your members of Congress as soon as possible so you can reinforce your appropriations requests.
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Get media published on appropriations
We need to build a better future post-COVID. We are already looking ahead to what recovery from the pandemic will look like. We need a bold vision for longer-term funding of effective global initiatives in health, education, and nutrition. We know what to do to help people at home and abroad pick up the pieces and knit together a stronger future. Will you write your local media and raise your voice for strong global health, education, and nutrition appropriations for fiscal year 2022? Your voice matters.
TAKE ACTION: Utilize our online action alert to write to your local paper about our appropriations requests and priorities. Customize your letter with any personal stories you have and mention your legislators by name. You can also share this alert with your Action Network to enroll new voices to speak up on these priorities.
Did you miss our Appropriations 101 webinar? You can access the recording on our website.
New Lancet series. A new resource is available titled “The Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition Progress.” You can read this new information online.
Monthly Policy Forum on Global Tuberculosis. Thursday, March 18, 9:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends an hour prior to the webinar.
U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Tell Congress to build on COVID relief success
Got Enough Minutes? Use media to celebrate and build on COVID victory
This past weekend, the Senate passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), 50-49. The Senate version goes back to the House for an up or down vote this week. The House is expected to pass the bill today or tomorrow, sending it to President Biden for signature.
One cannot overstate how huge an accomplishment this is for our country. This bill will protect millions of Americans facing eviction ($30 billion in rent and utility assistance (see all the housing provisions in the bill)). This bill will help 17 million low-wage workers and prevent 5 million of them from being taxed into poverty each year (expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit). And, astoundingly, this bill will reduce child poverty by 45 percent (expansion of the Child Tax Credit). These alone, not to mention the many other important provisions (stimulus checks, extended unemployment, international development assistance, etc.) make this a landmark piece of legislation.
And you helped make it happen. Your push for rental assistance over the last year, your years of advocacy to increase the EITC for workers not raising children, and a decade of lobbying to expand the CTC to all low-income families have resulted in this – a generational leap in the fight against poverty. As Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said on our March 6 national webinar, the day the Senate passed ARPA was his best day as a senator.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to celebrate this huge victory by submitting a letter to the editor touting what the American Rescue Plan will do those living in poverty. Use our new online media alert to show lawmakers that this legislation is popular with their constituents. Be sure to thank members of Congress who voted for ARPA and urge them to build on this success with a strong recovery bill.
Also, continue to request meetings with members of Congress to discuss your priorities for the recovery bill. See details in the next section.
Got Fifteen Minutes? Meet with lawmakers about recovery priorities
According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, Black households account for 13 percent of all households, yet they account for 26 percent of all extremely low-income renters and 40 percent of people experiencing homelessness. Hispanic households account for 12 percent of all U.S. households, 21 percent of extremely low-income renters, and 22 percent of people experiencing homelessness. One way Congress can help rectify these disparities is by making the Housing Choice Voucher program universal (i.e., all eligible renters can get a voucher).
In addition, Congress should make the new EITC and CTC changes permanent. Columbia University researchers estimate that expanding HCVs to all eligible renters, coupled with the new CTC expansion, would reduce child poverty by almost two-thirds. But if the tax credit changes are not made permanent, any gains in reducing poverty will be erased after one year.
Now that COVID relief is nearly complete, Congress will soon turn its attention to the Biden Administration’s next big priority – a so-called national “recovery” bill. This bill is the vehicle to get the above provisions passed. President Biden is expected to outline his recovery plan in an address to Congress this spring. If we want to make sure our priorities are part of the discussion, we need to start now.
TAKE ACTION: Continue to request meetings with House and Senate offices as part of our First 100 Days Campaign. In meetings with lawmakers and aides, urge them to tell congressional leadership and President Biden to include making Housing Choice Vouchers universal and making the new EITC/CTC changes permanent in any recovery legislation. Remember to also contact office you’ve already met with this year to discuss these new requests. To help you, we will have updated housing and tax leave behinds and laser talks this week. Please contact Jos Linn or Meredith Dodson for questions and coaching.
QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY
Join Monthly Policy Forum on March 18. Join our next Monthly Policy Form on Thursday, March 18 at 8:00 pm ET. Learn what’s next in our work to reduce poverty in America through housing and tax policies. Register today!
Watch hearing on racial justice in housing. Tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing “Justice for All: Achieving Racial Equity Through Fair Access to Housing and Financial Services.” The hearing begins at 10:00 am ET. You can watch it at here.
Sign onto eviction letter. Sign your local RESULTS group onto a letter urging the Biden administration to extend, improve, and enforce the current CDC eviction moratorium (it is currently set to expire on March 31). Read more here. The deadline to sign on is March 15.
RESULTS Announcements
Learn how to support new advocates. Want tips on making sure your advocates feel welcome, enrolling them in shared leadership, and mentoring them in their advocacy? Come on along to our Supporting New Advocates to Grow webinar! We’ll be talking about best practices and great tips to help newer advocates thrive. The webinar is Thursday, March 11 at 8:30 pm ET. Register today.
Register for our U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum. Join us for Housing and Taxes – Where to Next? next Thursday, March 18 at 8:00 pm ET. Register today.
Register for our Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forum. Join us for a discussion on global tuberculosis next Thursday, March 18. The forum will launch at 9:00 pm ET. Register today.
Need help building your Action Network? Are you wanting to understand what an Action Network is? Are you interested is building an Action Network? If so, this is the training for you. On Wednesday, March 31, we’ll hold How to Build Your Action Network 101, 8:30 pm ET. Register today.
RESULTS 2021 International Conference registration is live! The 2021 RESULTS International Conference will be held June 12-13, 2021, and like last year, it will be held virtually, followed by a virtual Advocacy Week. Register today! (register by May 1 to participate in Advocacy Week.)
How to Develop and Deepen Relationships with Congress. Join us on Tuesday, April 6 at 8:30 pm ET. The First 100 Days Campaign has empowered us to meet with our members of Congress and their staff, perhaps for the first time. We’ll look at all the key relationships one can make with offices and techniques for relationship building, including engaging others in our community. Register today.
The African Leadership Cohort. The African Leadership Cohort (ALC) was launched in 2020 with the aim of increasing African Diaspora representation within the RESULTS movement and creating a safe space for individuals within this community. The cohort is currently made up of five members from three countries (Nigeria, Kenya, and Democratic Republic of the Congo) representing four states (Maryland, Washington, Maine, and Minnesota). Read more about this exciting initiative on our blog.
RESULTS is hiring. RESULTS is seeking highly motivated individuals to fill various positions on our team. If you are interested, please check out the job postings online.
Please complete your group roadmaps. If you have not completed your 2021 Group Roadmaps, please do so as soon as possible. If you need assistance, contact Jos Linn.
Upcoming Events
Congressional schedule. Both chambers are in session this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.
Thursday, March 11: Supporting New Advocates to Grow Webinar, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends an hour prior to the webinar.
Thursday, March 18: Monthly Policy Forum: Housing and Taxes – Where to Next?, 8:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends an hour prior to the webinar.
Thursday, March 18: Monthly Policy Forum: Global Tuberculosis, 9:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends an hour prior to the webinar.
Monday, March 22: First 100 Days Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Bring your policy questions for your First 100 Days Campaign lobby visits. Join at tinyurl.com/2y6pqtcf, passcode 2030.
Wednesday, March 31: How to Build Your Action Network 101, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends an hour prior to the webinar.
Saturday, April 3: National Grassroots Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register today Registrations will be checked up to an hour prior to the webinar.
Tuesday, April 6: How to Develop and Deepen Relationships with Congress, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Saturday June 12 and Sunday, June 13: 2021 RESULTS International Conference. Registration is open. Please register by May 1 to participate in Advocacy Week following the conference.
Grassroots Resources
Learn about the RESULTS Experts on Poverty.
To update volunteer info (e.g., subscribe to the Weekly Update or action alerts, add new advocate information, update an existing advocate’s information or preferences), use our Volunteer Information Form.
Find actions and volunteer resources on our Current Volunteers page, including our anti-oppression resources.
Remember to please report your recent advocacy successes in lobby meetings, media, and outreach activities.
If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for the RESULTS/REF Board, please e-mail Lindsay Saunders at [email protected]. View Board minutes and Annual Reports.
RESULTS Staff directory.