RESULTS Weekly Update July 26, 2022

Quote of the Week

“Impoverished children around the world need a chance at a healthy life, which includes not only vaccines but proper nutrition.”

– RESULTS St. Louis volunteer Cindy Levin in a July 22 letter to the editor on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Table of Contents

• READ Act reauthorization needs co-sponsors
• Personalize your letter to the editor on the CTC
• Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty
• Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

READ Act reauthorization needs co-sponsors

The READ Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 has been introduced in both the House and Senate (H.R.7240, S.3938). This legislation would reauthorize the original 2017 READ Act for another five years, enabling the U.S. to lead on global equity in access to education. Bolstering global education is critical given the toll COVID-19 has taken on accessing quality education in low-income settings.

READ Act reauthorization allows the U.S. to help improve literacy and numeracy in basic education. The reauthorization also demands better monitoring and evaluation efforts, improving the U.S.’s ability to contribute to the achievement of key global education goals. We are working to help move the legislation through both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Co-sponsors will help make this happen.

TAKE ACTION: Use our new action alert to reach out to your representative and senators today. Ask that they co-sponsor the READ Act Reauthorization Act of 2022. Congress must ensure the U.S. continues to lead in supporting quality, accessible education for all.

Personalize your letter to the editor on the CTC

Have you submitted a letter to the editor this month about the Child Tax Credit (CTC)? Now is the time to do it. It is becoming increasingly likely that Congress will take up a tax bill after the election. Our task is to make sure that the CTC is included.

We cannot wait until November to get started. As noted in this Roll Call article, negotiators expect to begin tax discussions in a matter of weeks. We want members of Congress (and candidates for office) hearing the words “Child Tax Credit” relentlessly until they get it done.

This month, in addition to asking House members to sign a CTC sign-on letter (see Quick News), media about the CTC is our primary action. But getting letters to the editor published seems to be getting harder. Papers are cutting back on their opinion pages and getting more aggressive against form letters. What can you do? Below are tips that can help, but one thing makes the biggest difference.

Make it personal.

When writing a letter to the editor, make it story. Nothing moves people like story. Facts are important but they are abstract. You can’t “see” a tax credit or a monthly payment or work requirement. But you can see a hungry child, a working mom, or a caring grandparent. Talk about the CTC in these terms. If you received the CTC last year, talk about how it helped (or how losing it has hurt). If you didn’t get it, talk about why you care. Be specific. Don’t just say you care about child poverty; say you hate the thought of children being hungry in the classroom. Don’t say you oppose work requirements, say that parents want to work, but they need the CTC to afford childcare. Help readers “see” the issue, then use your facts to back up that vision.

TAKE ACTION: Send a letter to the editor (LTE) sharing why the Child Tax Credit is important to you. The July 2022 U.S. Poverty Action Sheet has background info and a sample LTE to get you started, as does online media action. In addition to making your letter personal, here are additional tips to help:

• Refer to recent articles in the paper. If possible, find a relevant and recent article or opinion piece in the paper and refer to it in your letter, e.g. “In response to your recent article ‘Inflation hurting low-income families hardest’”.
• Papers don’t like form letters. The sample LTEs in July Action Sheet and online media action are helpful when you are stumped. However, avoid submitting them unchanged to the paper. Use the sample letter to start, then edit it to make it your own.
• Send letters directly to the paper. If your paper has an e-mail address or online form to submit LTEs, use it. Use our website form if you are short on time or don’t know where to send your letter. In either case, personalize it!
• Try various papers. States have many news outlets, so branch out to other papers in your state to submit your letters. If you submit to numerous papers at once, try to make each one unique so the exact same letter is not going to each paper.
• Keep trying. No one gets every letter published. If you strike out, try again, again, and again. Eventually, you’ll get one.

Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty

Keep pushing for House signers on the CTC letter. Help us get more House members to sign on to the letter urging congressional leaders to pass an expansion of the CTC in any tax bill extending corporate tax breaks. 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. The deadline for members to sign on is this Friday, July 29. See the current list of signers (column G).

Helping families claim their CTC. As part of our CTC work, RESULTS has been tracking the accessibility and implementation of the program. RESULTS coalition partner, Code for America, created GetCTC.org that helps qualified families file a simplified tax form to receive their 2021 CTC. We are happy to report that families in Puerto Rico, who were previously excluded from using the simplified form, can now use GetCTC.org to get their CTC. If you or anyone you know has not yet received their credit, go to www.GetCTC.org to see if you are eligible to file a simplified tax form and get your CTC.

Ask Senate to bring global malnutrition bill to the floor. The bipartisan Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 calls for a coordinated strategy for USAID nutrition assistance and sets clear targets for reaching the most impoverished children and families with effective interventions. The House version of this bill has passed and has moved through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Now, use our action alert to ask your senators to request that leadership bring the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021 to the floor for a vote.

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: Sen. Chuck Grassley has proposed indexing the Child Tax Credit to inflation so that as prices rise, the credit will not lose its value. While this would be a welcomed and long-overdue change, the lowest-income children would still be excluded from the CTC. If we want to ensure that families don’t lose the value of the credit, let’s first ensure that those most in need can get it.
• Global Poverty: Take a look at “A Lost Chance at Greatness,” a personal and powerful depiction of the ramifications of lack of nutrition access, as explained by Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow for Global Food and Agriculture at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Announcements

Join the August 6 National Webinar. The next RESULTS National Webinar is Saturday, August 6 at 1:00 pm ET. This is an important webinar to attend, as we will map out our plans for the rest of 2022. After hearing context for our fall campaigns, our Expansion Team will do a terrific deep dive on all the new resources available to help you and your group be healthy, vibrant, and fresh. Come on along for great tips, tools, and stories. Register for the webinar today. Note: all advocates should join at 1:00 pm ET and stay on the for the duration of the webinar.

Please follow up from your Advocacy Month meetings. Please be sure to complete any follow-up from your Advocacy Month meetings. If you still have offices to meet with, set those up for the August recess to build more support for our policy requests. Finally, please remember to fill out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form in detail for each lobby meeting you do.

Apply for the 2023 RESULTS Fellowship application process. We are now accepting applications for the 2023 class of the RESULTS Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship. For all the details on eligibility and how to apply, check out our website.

Register for August 23 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. Sessions resume next month, starting on Tuesday, August 23 at 12:00 pm ET. Seating is limited so 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.

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!

Tuesday, August 16, U.S. Poverty Free Agents, 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm ET. Contact Jos Linn for more information on how to join.

Tuesday, August 16, Together Women Rise Advocacy Chapter with RESULTS, 8:30 pm ET. Find more information here.

Thursday, August 18: U.S. Poverty Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Register here.

Thursday, August 18: Global Poverty Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Register here.

Monday, August 22: Global Poverty Free Agents, 7 pm ET. Contact Lisa Marchal for more information on how to join.

Tuesday, August 23: Diversity and Inclusion 101, 12:00 pm ET. Register here.

Saturday, August 27: Building Resilience in Challenging Times, 11:00 am ET. Read more and join here.

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.