RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update April 13, 2021

Quote of the Week

“COVID-19 has replaced tuberculosis as the most lethal infectious disease. Yet people suffering with HIV/AIDS die from TB, this disgusting disease that has plagued mankind since before Egyptian times.”

– RESULTS Anchorage volunteer Mary Martin in a March 25 letter to the editor in the Anchorage Daily News

Table of Contents

• Global Poverty Campaigns Update
• U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
• RESULTS Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

Global Poverty Campaigns Update

QUICK ACTION Take a survey to help strengthen anti-oppression and equity work at RESULTS.

Got Twenty Minutes? Submit our appropriations requests and sign-on letters to your representative’s foreign policy aide

Time has almost run out! The House State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations (SFOPS) leadership (Reps. Lee and Rogers) has a deadline of April 28 to hear from other representatives about their development assistance spending priorities for fiscal year 2022. This means that your representative has likely set an imminent deadline to gather input from constituents like you. Updated: We also have three new appropriations sign-on letters you can ask your representatives to sign on to. Find them on our FY22 appropriations sign-on letter blog post. (This will be updated regularly). You can ask your representatives to do both—submit requests and sign on to letters. Many of you are making these requests during your First 100 Days lobby meetings, but you don’t want to wait for those meetings if it means missing deadlines. Make your requests today and then follow up during your First 100 Days meetings.

Here’s how to submit your appropriations requests:

• Go to your representative’s website and search for “appropriations.” Many offices have forms and deadlines on their websites. If you find forms, send them to Dorothy Monza ([email protected]) and Crickett Nicovich ([email protected]) along with the deadline for having them filled out. They will fill them out and return them to you to send to the foreign policy aide along with our appropriations request sheets.
• If you don’t find forms on the website, call the foreign policy aide for your representative and ask what the deadline is for submitting SFOPS appropriations requests to their office. Also, ask if they have forms to fill out or if you can just submit our request sheets. If you don’t know who the foreign policy aide is, call the office and ask, or contact the Grassroots Impact staff.
• Follow your call with an e-mail to the foreign policy aide, including any unanswered questions about deadlines and forms, along with our appropriations requests. Explain why these funding levels are important (drawing on the request sheets or laser talks for your explanation).
• Alternate calling and e-mailing until you get a clear response on the procedure for submitting the appropriations requests and find out whether your representative will include our requests in their submission. Remember, if they have forms to fill out, we can help. Send them to Dorothy Monza ([email protected]) and Crickett Nicovich ([email protected]) along with the deadline for having them filled out.
• Please let Lisa Marchal ([email protected]) or Ken Patterson ([email protected]) know if you have questions.

Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Get meetings with your members of Congress

Our goal is to meet with 100 percent of the Senate and 75 percent of the House during our First 100 Days Campaign which ends April 30. So far, we’ve reached 67 percent of the Senate and 27 percent of the House. There’s less than one month left in the campaign, so don’t hesitate. Book meetings with your representatives and senators now so that we can reinforce our appropriations requests and sign-on letters. We’ve got appropriations request memos and companion laser talks on global nutrition, tuberculosis, and education to assist you. You can also find the FY22 appropriations sign-on letters (and track our progress on them) on our blog.

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 engage your Action Network to support your requests by having them write to your members of Congress using our online action.

TAKE ACTION: Book meetings with your legislators as soon as possible so you can reinforce your appropriations and sign-on letter requests. You can ask your Action Network to reach out with appropriations requests as well. And remember to report your meetings after they happen!

QUICK NEWS ON GLOBAL POVERTY

Thursday, April 15. Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Focus: nutrition. Our guest will be Meaza Getachew of 1,000 Days. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Appropriations terms guide. Have you ever wanted to demystify and define some of the jargon that goes with the appropriations process in Congress? We have a “cheat sheet”!

U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update

QUICK ACTION Use media to push for a strong recovery bill

Got Twenty Minutes? Urge Congress to support universal rental assistance

Last Friday, President Biden released a preview of his FY 2022 budget proposal that prioritizes the need to address the affordable housing crisis. The proposal requests a total of $68.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an increase of $9 billion or 15 percent over 2021. The proposal expands rental assistance to 200,000 additional eligible families through the Housing Choice Voucher program (HCV) and makes significant investments to end and prevent homelessness. It also includes $1.9 billion to address the critical shortage of affordable housing in communities throughout the country, $900 million to fund tribal efforts to expand affordable housing, and $85 million to support and promote federal, state, and local efforts to prevent and redress housing discrimination.

While RESULTS welcomes the Administration’s “down payment” on expanded housing assistance in their budget blueprint, it is only a step in ensuring that all eligible renters receive rental assistance. That is still our goal and that is still our message.

TAKE ACTION: Keep the pressure on Congress to be bold on housing by taking twenty minutes to set up First 100 Days meetings with senators and representatives urging them to do the following:

1. Make the 2021 EITC/CTC provisions permanent (review our new brief for background)
2. Expand rental assistance to all eligible renters through the Housing Choice Voucher program
3. Increasing supply of affordable housing and addressing legacy of racism in housing (increase Black homeownership, reduce wealth inequality)

Use the April U.S. Poverty Action, updated lobby meeting request, laser talks, and housing and tax lobby leave behinds for your meetings. Please contact RESULTS staff to help get you ready for meetings and let us know what happened in our Lobby Report Form. Also, there is a national housing call-in day tomorrow, April 14. Call your congressional offices urging action on affordable housing (see more below).

Also, please register for the April U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum “Evictions 101 – Why It’s Important for the Federal Government to Address It NOW”, this Thursday, April 15 at 8:00 pm ET. Drawing on his experience, RESULTS’ Senior Policy Associate Michael Santos will discuss evictions and their impact on American renters, overview plans to address the affordable housing crisis, and outline ways to make the case for affordable housing to your members of Congress.

Got Two More Minutes? Join national housing call-in day tomorrow

RESULTS is joining the National Low-Income Housing Coalition and other advocates from around the country for a national call-in day tomorrow, April 14, calling on Congress to make housing a priority in economic recovery legislation this year. Keep America’s affordable housing crisis front and center with your members of Congress by calling and urging others to join you.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes on Wednesday, April 14, to call your representative and both senators telling them to support housing for all. Use our legislator lookup tool to find phone numbers (or call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121) and leave this message when connected:

As a constituent, I believe Congress must ensure that recovery legislation prioritizes housing stability for America’s lowest-income renters. Right now, only one in four eligible renters can get federal housing assistance. By expanding rental assistance to all eligible renters through the Housing Choice Voucher program, as well as increasing the supply of affordable housing and promoting homeownership for communities of color, we can stably house millions and undo the impact of years of discriminatory housing practices against people of color. Will you please ask Rep./Sen. _______________ to directly communicate his/her support to congressional leaders and the Administration for including these bold housing policies in recovery legislation?

QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY

Sign onto NLIHC housing letter. If you haven’t already, please sign your local RESULTS group onto a letter urging Congress to enact bold, long-term solutions to America’s housing crisis. The deadline to sign on is April 14.

Housing Financial Services Committee Chair Waters will introduce bill investing on affordable housing. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA-43), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, yesterday released her Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2021. The bill provides $70 billion to preserve public housing and $45 billion to the Housing Trust Fund. The bill also provides $35 billion to produce affordable housing for low-income families, at least $8 billion in funds to address other housing-related needs of people with disabilities, people who are elderly, and households in rural and Native American communities. Equally important is the $2.5 billion investment to support the enforcement of fair housing laws to prevent and redress housing discrimination across the country. To hear more about the committee’s plan on investments in affordable housing, watch its “Build Back Better: Investing in Equitable and Affordable Housing Infrastructure” virtual hearing tomorrow at 10:00 am ET.

White House makes case for infrastructure plan. Yesterday, the White House released state-by-state fact sheets highlighting the dire nationwide need for investments in America’s infrastructure through the American Jobs Plan, including housing. States (including Puerto Rico and DC) received a letter grade on infrastructure, with Georgia and Utah receiving the highest letter grade of C-plus. The site also includes fact sheets on how the American Jobs Plan advances racial equity and helps rural communities.

House to hold hearing on reparations bill. Tomorrow, April 14 at 10:00 am ET, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its first-ever markup on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. The bill creates a commission “to examine slavery and discrimination in the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies.” RESULTS is among over 300 organizations who have endorsed H.R.40 and urge its passage. You can watch the mark-up here.

RESULTS Announcements

Please take the anti-oppression survey – deadline extended. In partnership with an outside consulting form, RESULTS is currently conducting an anti-oppression and equity survey to collect feedback from RESULTS volunteers on existing anti-oppression efforts. Your input is critical to identifying areas of growth in our anti-oppression work and will contribute to the improvement of your volunteer experience. We currently have about 150 responses, only half the responses needed for an accurate sample. As such, we are extending the survey deadline at least through the end of April. If you have not taken the survey, please click here to take the survey today.

RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Nominations. Ever thought of serving on the RESULTS board? Now is the time to submit your name or the name of someone you believe would do a great job. Find out more about nominations and what’s involved in serving on the board on our website. Please email name(s) to Jesse Marsden at [email protected]. If you have questions, please contact Lindsay K. Saunders at [email protected]. Nominations close April 30.

Join media training tonight. Join us tonight, April 13 at 8:30 pm ET to learn the tools you need to write a powerful letter to the editor on the issues you care about. Bring your pad and paper and let’s write! Register today.

Action Network Monthly Webinar. If you are looking to better activate and support members of your local Action Network (online activists) and help move them up the ladder of engagement, please join our monthly Action Network webinar. This webinar is also dedicated towards finding solutions to any dilemmas Action Network Managers may have managing and/or engaging their networks. Join this Wednesday, April 14 at 8:30 pm ET. Register today.

Join RESULTS Policy Forums this Thursday. Join our U.S. poverty and global poverty Monthly Policy Forums this Thursday, April 15. At 8:00 pm ET, join RESULTS Senior Policy Associate Michael Santos for Evictions 101 – Why It’s Important for the Federal Government to Address It NOW. Register for the U.S. poverty forum here. Then at 9:00 p.m. ET, join Meaza Getachew of 1,000 Days for a discussion about global nutrition. Register for the global poverty forum here.

Join BIPOC/African Leadership Cohort Caucus meeting. The next caucus meeting, which is open to the BIPOC and African Diaspora communities, will be held Wednesday, April 21 at 7:45 pm ET. The theme of this gathering will be “Where Does My Community Fit in Advocacy?” You must register to attend. Register at tinyurl.com/BIPOCALC.

Register for the RESULTS 2021 International Conference! The 2021 RESULTS International Conference will be held June 12-13, 2021. Come learn from expert presenters, staff trainers, and each other as we prepare for a powerful Advocacy Week with congressional offices the following week. Don’t miss our biggest event of the year. Register today! Please register by May 1 to participate in Advocacy Week.

Join Champion Scale training with Sam Daley-Harris. RESULTS founder Sam Daley-Harris will energize us with his interactive workshop “The RESULTS Champion Scale: Creating Congressional Leadership” on moving our members of Congress up the Champion Scale. The webinar is Wednesday, April 21 at 8:30 pm ET. Register today.

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule. The House and Senate are back in DC this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.

Tuesday, April 13: Writing a Powerful Letter to the Editor, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Wednesday, April 14: Action Network Monthly Webinar, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Thursday, April 15. U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Focus: housing. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Thursday, April 15. Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Focus: nutrition. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Monday, April 19: First 100 Days Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Bring your policy questions for lobbying. Join at tinyurl.com/2y6pqtcf, passcode 2030.

Wednesday, April 21: BIPOC/African Leadership Cohort Caucus, 7:45 pm ET. You must register to attend. Register at tinyurl.com/BIPOCALC.

Wednesday, April 21: The RESULTS Champion Scale: Creating Congressional Leadership, 8:30 pm ET. Led by RESULTS founder Sam Daley Harris. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Wednesday, April 28: Second book discussion on The Color of Law, 9:00 pm ET. Focus will be on the final four chapters. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Saturday, May 1: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register today.  Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Thursday, May 13: Quarterly Call-in with Grassroots Board Members, 9:00 pm ET. Join at https://tinyurl.com/QuarterlyGR. You can also dial in to (929) 436-2866, meeting ID 96338593060, passcode 1980.

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.

To join the RESULTS listserv for more RESULTS conversation, send an email to [email protected]

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 and job postings.