RESULTS Weekly Update July 12, 2022

Quote of the Week

“As responsible members of society, we must tell members of Congress that Kentuckians care about ensuring that every child is fed.”

– RESULTS Lexington, KY volunteer Abigail Prang in a June 27 letter to the editor on the State Journal

Table of Contents

• Write your letter to the editor on global nutrition
• Use media to keep Advocacy Month momentum going
• Join Thursday’s Advocacy Month Celebration!
• Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty
• Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

Write your letter to the editor on global nutrition

Advocacy Month may officially be over, but our advocacy is not! The July Action Sheet will empower you and your fellow advocates to write letters to the editor reinforcing the requests you’ve been making to your senators to co-sponsor the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 (S.2956). This is a crucial piece of legislation in light of the global malnutrition crisis that has been brewing since before the pandemic. The Action Sheet will help you reiterate the urgency of the legislation; you can also use it to write a thank-you letter to the editor if one or more of your senators has co-sponsored already. (Remember that our May/June Action Sheet is also available if you still need to make this co-sponsorship request of your senators.) Personalize your letter(s) with your own passion and perspective so that your community – and your legislators – can sense the relevance and urgency.

Learn more about global malnutrition with this backgrounder or review a session from our International Conference titled “Why We Must Do More on Child Nutrition.” These pieces will inspire as well as provide helpful data for your writing.

TAKE ACTION: Write your letter to the editor today, calling on your senators to co-sponsor life-saving bipartisan legislation, the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 (S.2956). This legislation focuses on interventions that work: prenatal vitamins, breastfeeding support, vitamin A supplementation, and emergency therapeutic foods. The House has already passed its version of the bill and the Senate must follow suit.

Use local media to keep Advocacy Month momentum going

Congress returns to DC this week for a few weeks work before heading out again on recess for most of August. While many items will be on their agenda, we know one thing that won’t – an extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC).

Despite Senate inaction, the need for the expanded CTC is clear. As noted by Columbia University researchers, in the months when families received the CTC monthly payments (July -December 2021) or the CTC as a tax refund March 2022), child poverty was significantly down. When the expanded CTC was absent, child poverty was up. If we are truly a country that cares about its children, Congress would pass the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) now.

Fortunately, there is still an opportunity to get the CTC expansion through Congress this year. Congress is likely to do tax bill after the election, which could be a vehicle to help families by resuming the expanded CTC and monthly payments. But it’s no guarantee.

It is going to take consistent pressure on members of Congress to get this done. Getting letters to the editors published about the CTC is a big part of that pressure. Lawmakers need to see that, even if they are not talking about the CTC, their constituents are. Their delays will not undermine your determination. And with this pressure, we set ourselves up for a better outcome later this year.

TAKE ACTION: Send a letter to the editor (LTE) to your local paper urging your members of Congress by name to pass a fully refundable CTC with monthly payments as soon as possible. The July 2022 U.S. Poverty Action Sheet has background info and a sample LTE to get you started. You can also use our online media action to send your letter right from the RESULTS website (it’s better to send it directly to the paper; the online action is good if you are short on time).

If you need help with your media advocacy month, join our media office hours next week to get your questions answered (see below for details). You may also contact RESULTS staff directly for help.

Join Thursday’s Advocacy Month Celebration!

Thank you for your incredible work meeting with members of Congress during our 2022 Advocacy Month! To show our appreciation and share details of your amazing work, please join us this Thursday evening for a special hour-long Advocacy Month Celebration webinar. We’ll share statistics from your advocacy, hear from advocates about their recent lobbying experiences, and give you the chance to share your experiences and thoughts with each other. With the news of the world so heavy right now, take advantage of this opportunity to get reinspired and recharged for the work ahead. Please join us!

TAKE ACTION: Register for the 2022 Advocacy Month Celebration webinar this Thursday, July 14 at 8:00 pm ET. If you registered for a previous RESULTS National Webinar (our monthly Saturday webinars), you should already be registered for this event. Registrants will receive an e-mail confirming their attendance the day before and the day of the webinar. If you have questions about registration, please contact Jos Linn.

Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty

Please reach out to House members on CTC letter this week. As RESULTS continues its work on the Child Tax Credit, we could use your help. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7) is circulating a tax fairness letter urging House and Senate leaders to not to pass another corporate tax credit without also passing an expansion of the CTC. Getting a significant number of House members to sign on will send that message to leadership. Follow this link to find a draft e-mail you can send to House tax aides explaining the context and how to sign on, as well as the text of the letter itself. Please reach out to your House member today urging them to sign onto the tax fairness letter. The deadline for members to sign on is this Friday, July 15.

FY23 Appropriations process: House update. Progress on the FY23 appropriations process was made in the House last week yielding measured good news, and you can read all about the implications and anticipated next steps on our blog.

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 Congress’s return to DC this week as your hook to demand they help struggling children and families by expanding the Child Tax Credit.
• Global Poverty: This year’s The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has been released. The publication is created by a powerhouse team – UNICEF, the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the United Nations World Food Programme. The report shines light on shocking statistics regarding hunger and nutrition globally. Utilize this information for your own letter to the editor addressing the urgent malnutrition crisis.

Announcements

Please follow up from your Advocacy Month meetings. As you wrap up your lobby meetings from Advocacy Month, please be sure to complete any follow-up with congressional offices. This includes a thank you to the people you met with, a reiteration of your request, and any additional information necessary to keep the issue fresh in their minds. Also, if there are still meetings your group has left to complete, keep working to set those up. These lobby meetings are important no matter when you do them. Please see our Advocacy Month Resources page for materials to help you. Finally, with any lobby meeting you do, please fill out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form in detail to let us know what happened.

Join media office hours on July 18 and 20. To help with your media advocacy this month, please join RESULTS Manager of Grassroots Impact Jos Linn for “media office hours” next week. If you need help finding a hook, are looking for that important stat you can’t seem to locate, want someone to review your letter before sending it, or just want advice on where to send your letter, please join. It’s first come, first serve and no need to register. The Media Office Hours are Monday, July 18 at 8:00pm ET and Wednesday, July 20 at 1:00pm ET. Join via Zoom at: https://results.zoom.us/j/93668005494 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID: 936 6800 5494.

2023 RESULTS Fellowship application process is open! Applications are now being accepted for the upcoming 2023 class of the RESULTS Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship. For all the details on eligibility and how to apply, check out our website.

Next Saturday National Webinar is August 6. Because of the July 14 Advocacy Month celebration webinar (see above), there will be no Saturday National Webinar in July. Our next regular National Webinar will be Saturday, August 6 at 1:00 pm ET. Register today!

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.

Thursday, July 14: Advocacy Month celebration, 8:00 pm ET. Register today!

Monday, July 18: Media office hour, 8:00 pm ET. Get your media questions answered. Join via Zoom at: https://results.zoom.us/j/93668005494 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID: 936 6800 5494.

Tuesday, July 19: 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, July 19: Together Women Rise Advocacy Chapter with RESULTS, 8:30 pm ET. Check out more information.

Wednesday, July 20: RESULTS Action Network Managers webinar, 12:30 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET. Register for the afternoon or the evening session.

Wednesday, July 20: Media office hour, 1:00 pm ET. Get your media questions answered. Join via Zoom at: https://results.zoom.us/j/93668005494 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID: 936 6800 5494.

U.S. and Global Poverty Policy Forums will resume in August.

Monday, July 25: Global Poverty Free Agents, 7:00 pm ET. If you are interested in joining, contact Lisa Marchal for more information.

Saturday, August 6: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register today!

Thursday, August 11: Global Allies Program (with Returned Peace Corps Volunteers), 8:30 pm ET. Register today!

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 RESULS 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.