RESULTS Weekly Update May 3, 2022

Quote of the Week

“We Alaskan RESULTS volunteers greatly appreciated Don [Young]’s consistent availability to meet with us, and to better inform himself about TB, and effective strategies to defeat it.”

– RESULTS Alaska volunteers in an April 25 op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News

Table of Contents

• Your CTC advocacy makes a difference
• Don’t wait to act on FY23 appropriations in the Senate
• Join National Webinar this Saturday with Cindy Changyit Levin
• Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty
• Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

Your CTC advocacy makes a difference

In 2022, RESULTS volunteers have helped make the Child Tax Credit (CTC) a household name. Since January, you have gotten 105 media pieces published on the CTC. This is on top of countless e-mails, phone calls, letters, and meetings you’ve done urging Congress to extend the CTC. This steady stream of advocacy is keeping the CTC visible in the press. Just yesterday, former Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Jacob Lew called for an extension of the CTC in the New York Times (and debunked the myth that it would make inflation worse).

It is this type of advocacy that’s needed right now. The situation for families is not getting better. There is still hope that Congress will pass another economic recovery bill this spring. It will relentless grassroots pressure to get a CTC extension in.

TAKE ACTION: Push your members of Congress to extend the Child Tax Credit, including the CTC monthly payments. Use the April U.S. Poverty Action to draft letters/emails to the tax aides about the CTC (our May Action will be out later this week). Also, use CTC letters to the editor to publicly push lawmakers into action. To help, here is new data you could include in your letters, emails, and media:

• The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has a new report once again confirming that parents spent their CTC monthly payments on necessities (paying bills, buying food and groceries, paying rent or mortgage). Black respondents were more likely to spend their CTC payment to pay bills. Hispanic respondents were likelier spend their CTC payments on food.
• The National Women’s Law Center has analyzed data from the Census Household Pulse Survey on the impacts of the COVID economic crisis. For the weeks March 2-14, 2022:
  • Nearly 1 in 6 Black women and over 1 in 5 Latinas were in households that lost employment income in the four weeks prior.
  • More than 1 in 5 Black, women and over 1 in 6 Latinas did not have enough to eat.
  • Black women continue to face the highest rates of being behind on rent.
    Nearly 1.9 million women reported being very or somewhat likely to be evicted in the next 2 months, including over 1.2 million women of color.

If you have question, please contact RESULTS staff for help.

Don’t wait to act on FY23 appropriations in the Senate

Have you taken a moment to read about the work the RESULTS network did to help secure hundreds of signatures across three House “Dear Colleague” FY23 appropriations letters supporting global health? Incredible! For example, the letter pertaining to tuberculosis is one we’ve worked on regularly over the years, and you helped secure the highest-ever number of signers even with the bold ask of $1 billion in funding! (Check out letter signature counts online.)

Now the clock is ticking for the Senate. The first available Senate “Dear Colleague” is a bipartisan sign-on letter focused on the Global Fund that is available for signatures until May 10. Letters like this one are key in the appropriations process, and a long list of signatures makes all the difference. Ask your senators for their signatures on this important letter, and then please submit our appropriations memos (outlining our global health funding priorities) to your senators as well. Senators have until May 19 to submit to submit their global health funding requests to the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee (SFOPS).

Catch updates on letter signatures and keep track of the sign-on letters emerging in the Senate on the RESULTS blog. On the blog you’ll even find answers to frequent questions. You’ll also find sample templates if offices ask you to fill out forms as part of making your appropriations funding requests. Finally, share this online action alert with others so they can take action in the Senate alongside you.

TAKE ACTION: Read more about the Senate Global Fund letter on the RESULTS blog and make your signature requests today. Next, make sure your Senate funding requests are submitted. Use the support of our laser talk to make your requests. Send a thank-you for funding requests forwarded to SFOPS and for letters signed. Questions on this process? Contact Crickett at [email protected] or other RESULTS staff.

Join National Webinar this Saturday with Cindy Changyit Levin

Please be sure to join us this Saturday, May 7 at 1:00 pm ET for the RESULTS National Webinar. This month, we are thrilled to have RESULTS St. Louis volunteer and former Grassroots Board member Cindy Changyit Levin as our guest. Cindy is an experienced and passionate advocate on many issues. She will be sharing about her new book From Changing Diapers to Changing the World and provide inspiration to us all as we get ready for Advocacy Month. What is Advocacy Month? It’s our six-week advocacy push (May 30-July 8) with volunteers doing lobby meetings with members of Congress and their staff to talk about the issues we most care about. It will include the RESULTS International Conference (June 4-5), lobby meetings in DC (June 14), and lobby meetings back home.

On Saturday’s webinar, we will prepare you for Advocacy Month. In addition to Cindy’s inspiration, RESULTS staff will review the U.S. and global poverty requests and overview the trainings and resources we’re offering this month to get you ready for lobbying. We’ll also hear from volunteers who recently lobbied Congress in DC . Please join us!

Because of the nature of this webinar, we urge all volunteers to join at 1:00 pm ET and stay on for the duration.

TAKE ACTION: Please register for this Saturday’s National Webinar. Once registered, you will receive login information later this week via e-mail (please check your junk or spam folders if you have not received anything by Friday afternoon). You can also access the webinar slides (and later the recording) on our National Webinars page.

Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty

Media hooks of the week. To help you in your media advocacy, here are suggested media “hooks” this week to use in letters to the editor:

• U.S. Poverty: Use the New York Times op-ed from Robert Rubin and Jacob Lew as a hook to call on members of Congress to extend the CTC for the lowest-income Americans.
• Global Poverty: It is incredibly exciting that the House has passed H.R.4693, the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021. The momentum must continue. Write your local paper about how the Senate must now back S.2956, the corresponding global malnutrition bill. The world is not on track to meet global goals on nutrition—but U.S. leadership can help change that.

Good global malnutrition news. For months, we have been asking our members of Congress to co-sponsor the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act. Now we have fantastic news. After receiving more than 100 bipartisan co-sponsors, the House of Representatives passed the bill last week. Read more on our blog. Then take action using our global May Action Sheet so that the companion bill in the Senate is successful as well and the process moves forward. Co-sponsors in the Senate are needed now; make your request today!

New report on taxes and gender/racial justice. The National Women’s Law Center has a new report on why taxing wealth is a gender and racial justice issue. It shows that the tax code disadvantages women, people of color, and families with low incomes, while benefitting the super wealthy. Check out NWLC’s Tax the Rich Calculator to see what we could afford if we had a more equitable tax code.

Announcements

Please submit your Grassroots Board nominations – deadline extended. We need your leadership! RESULTS Grassroots Board Members are the voice of our volunteers on the RESULTS Board. They speak up for volunteer interests and help shape the future path of our organization. This summer, you will elect the newest GRBM. Now is the time to submit your nominations for who you think that should be. Nominate yourself or someone you know. We have extended the nomination deadline to Monday, May 9. Please send nominee’s full name, email address, and phone number to Jesse Marsden at [email protected].

Register for the RESULTS International Conference. Join us June 4-5 for the 2022 RESULTS International Conference. See our updated agenda and impressive list of speakers including Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker. At the IC, learn what you need to have powerful lobby meetings during Advocacy Month (May 30-July 8). Don’t miss out – register for the 2022 RESULTS International Conference today!

Register for May 13 Diversity and Inclusion 101 training. Join our work to dismantle systems of oppression and help reach the goal of having all RESULTS volunteers attend our “Diversity and Inclusion 101” training this year. There are only two sessions left this spring. The next session is Friday, May 13 at 12:00 pm ET. Seating is limited so register for an upcoming session today.

Race Literacy and Healing 101 recording available. Thank you to those who participated in the “Race Literacy and Healing 101” webinar with Milagros Phillips last weekend. If you missed the presentation, watch the recording at: https://youtu.be/r_yz72TzFKQ. The recording will be available until May 23.

Join May 18 Grassroots Board Town Hall. Join our next quarterly Grassroots Board Member Town Hall on Wednesday, May 18 at 9:00 pm ET (this is a rescheduled date). The focus of this Town Hall will be the upcoming Board election. Join via Zoom or by phone at (301) 715-8592, Meeting ID 922 0921 5298, passcode 985046.

Get help preparing for June Advocacy Month. Join us May 19 during our normal monthly Policy Forum times for a U.S. poverty- focused (8 pm ET) or globally focused (9 pm ET) hour to answer your lobbying questions. Each session will offer a brief overview of campaigns/requests with ample time for your questions. Registration is required for each hour. These sessions will be particularly important for anyone doing lobby meetings during the Memorial Day recess. In addition, on May 26 at 12:30 pm ET, our policy team will hold a general office hour if you have additional questions (no registration required for May 26).

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule. The House and Senate are in session this week.

Unless otherwise noted, registration ends one hour prior to the start of all webinars and trainings.

Saturday, May 7: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register here.

Thursday, May 12: Global Allies Program with Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, 8:30 pm ET. Check out our Events calendar for more information.

Friday, May 13: Diversity and Inclusion 101 training, 12:00 pm ET. Register here.

Tuesday, May 17: U.S. Poverty Free Agents, 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm ET. If you are interested in joining, contact Jos Linn for more information.

Tuesday, May 17: Together Women Rise, 8:30 pm ET. Go to our Events page for more information.

Wednesday, May 18: RESULTS Action Network Managers webinars, 12:30 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET. Register for the 12:30 pm ET option or the 8:00 pm ET option.

Wednesday, May 18: Quarterly Call-in with Grassroots Board Members, 9:00 pm ET (new date). Join via Zoom or by phone at (301) 715-8592, Meeting ID 922 0921 5298, passcode 985046.

Thursday, May 19: U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Focus: Helping your prepare for upcoming lobby meetings. Register here.

Thursday, May 19: Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Focus: Helping your prepare for upcoming lobby meetings. Register here.

Monday, May 23: Global Poverty Free Agents, 7:00 pm ET. If you are interested in joining, contact Lisa Marchal for more information.

Wednesday, May 25: Diversity and Inclusion 101 training, 8:30 pm ET. Register here.

Thursday, May 26: Advocacy Month Lobbying Prep Office Hour, 12:30 pm ET. Simply join – no registration required.

Saturday, June 4-Sunday, June 5. RESULTS International Conference. Keynote speaker: Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker. Register today! Also check out our resources for the companion Advocacy Month.

Grassroots Resources

Learn about the RESULTS Experts on Poverty.

Find actions and volunteer resources on our Volunteers Hub, including our anti-oppression resources. To join the RESULTS listserv for more RESULTS conversation, send an email to [email protected].

Remember to please report your recent advocacy successes in lobby meetings, media, and outreach activities. Also, use our Volunteer Information Form to add or edit volunteer info and to sign up for updates and alerts.

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.