U.S. Poverty Weekly Update August 11, 2015
U.S. Poverty CampaignsWeekly Update | August 11, 2015
In This Week’s Update:
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Quick Action: Urge Congress to Protect Working Families
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Got Two Minutes? Confirm Your Plans for Tonight’s August U.S. Poverty National MeetingWe are looking forward to a great August U.S. Poverty National Meeting/Conference Call tonight, August 11 at 8:00 pm ET. It’s only been a few weeks since the RESULTS International Conference – our biggest ever – but many of us can still feel the power and energy of it humming around us. On the call tonight, we’ll relive some of the conference with facts and stories from volunteers about their experience. We’ll also discuss how we can continue its success by pushing members of Congress this month to protect working families receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). We still have the chance to save key provisions of the EITC and CTC this year so we’ll update on the latest around the credits and discuss how you can push lawmakers on this issue in meetings and town halls this month (per the August Action). To help us, we are thrilled to have MacKenzie Nicholson and MaryLou Beaver of Every Child Matters – New Hampshire (ECM) as our guest speakers. ECM is one of the leaders in making the most of town hall events. They will share some of their best practices for engaging lawmakers and candidates on the issues. We look forward to you joining us. TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to confirm your plans for the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Meeting tonight, August 11 at 8:00 pm ET. Remind your group where you will meet for the meeting. Also, be sure to download the August National Meeting slides for the call and have them pulled up when the call begins. Because of the date and time change of the call this month, we know some of you may be participating on your own. Here are some tips for logging on:
If you have questions about Fuze or how to log in, please contact Jos Linn at [email protected]. |
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Got Ten Minutes? Turn Up the Heat on Lawmakers and Candidates during the August Recess (August Action)As we endure the dog days of summer, let’s turn up the heat on lawmakers and candidates about the issues we care about. Both the House and Senate are now on recess for the next four weeks. This is a perfect time to meet with them to talk about saving key provisions of the EITC and CTC and/or follow-up from recent meetings some of you had in Washington, DC. This fall is shaping up to be an important time for the EITC and CTC. With leaders needing to finish a number of tax bills (e.g. extending highway funding and some business tax credits), we must remind them that they cannot ignore the needs of working families. If Congress proposes to permanently extend any business credits this year, we MUST push them to also save the key EITC and CTC provisions that help millions of hard-working families make ends meet. This may be the last opportunity to save these provisions before 2017 when they are set to expire. Use the August recess to turn up the heat on lawmakers and candidates, urging them to put working children and families first. TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to contact your House and Senate schedulers about setting up face-to-face meetings and attending town halls events with your members of Congress and candidates this month. The August Action has resources to help with preparing for town halls (see the July Action for a guide on setting up sit-down meetings). Start with their DC schedulers (find names and contact information on our Elected Officials page) and ask about meetings and events. Also see our Conference Resources page, which has numerous resources from our recent International Conference to help you prepare for your meetings and events, including our latest EITC/CTC Lobby Request Sheet and state fact sheets on our issues. When you do schedule a meeting or plan to attend a town hall, please contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) ASAP to set up a call to help you prepare. Once you’ve completed your meeting or town hall event, please fill out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form to let us know how it went. |
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Got Twenty Minutes? Give Us Your Feedback on the RESULTS International ConferenceAs will be discussed on tonight’s August U.S. Poverty National Meeting, the recent RESULTS International Conference was one of our best ever. We had a record number of attendees, world-renowned speakers, and hundreds of advocacy meeting with members of Congress, congressional staff, and World Bank officials. However, we don’t want to rest on our laurels, nor assume everyone had a similar experience. We have created a survey to get your thoughts on this year’s Conference. What did you think of it? What worked? What didn’t? We want to know. Providing you – the volunteer – a meaningful experience is one of our top goals each year at the Conference and your ideas and feedback are critical in helping us do that. Help us make next year’s Conference even better by taking the survey today. TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to complete the 2015 RESULTS International Conference Survey. |
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RESULTS is Looking to Grow in the Midwest and South and You Can HelpSummertime is no time to rest when working to end poverty. That includes the RESULTS Expansion Team, as we work to expand the RESULTS volunteer network across the country. This week, RESULTS Grassroots Manager Jos Linn will travel to Indiana to meet with our advocates in Indianapolis and Evansville. This is a great way to connect with existing volunteers and reach out to new ones as well. Jos will be meeting with the Indianapolis group tomorrow night, August 12 at 7:30 pm ET at the Starbucks at 1420 N Capitol Ave in Indianapolis. Anyone is welcomed to join us. Jos will then travel to Evansville for several events Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. He’ll be meeting with several groups on homelessness in Evansville, speaking on a local talk radio program, and meeting with the local RESULTS group. In fact, the group will be hosting an outreach meeting this Thursday, August 13 at 6:30 pm CT in Browning Events Room B at the Central Library, 200 S.E. Martin Luther King Blvd in Evansville. All are welcomed to attend. If you know anyone in the Indianapolis or Evansville areas, please invite them to attend one of these meetings. You can contact Jos ([email protected]) for more details. Jos is also working to start groups in Kansas City, MO and Milwaukee, WI in the coming months. If you know anyone in these areas, please contact him to get them connected to our outreach efforts. Also, RESULTS U.S. Poverty Organizer Kristy Martino is traveling to Memphis, TN on September 3 to engage new advocates in our work. She is still finalizing her plans for the trip; we’ll keep you posted on meetings you can attend when she is there. Kristy is also working to start a new group in the Raleigh, NC area. If you know people in Memphis, Raleigh or other parts of the South, please contact Kristy to get them connected to her efforts ([email protected]). Finally, if you know anyone who would be interested in learning more about RESULTS and how to get involved, invite them to the RESULTS Introductory Call tomorrow night, August 12 at 9:00 pm ET. This 30-minute call is perfect for people looking to making a difference in the world but are not sure how. People can register for this or another upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website. |
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Give Us Your Feedback on National Conference Call Dates and TimesAs evidenced by the call tonight, RESULTS is experimenting with alternative days and times for our monthly U.S. Poverty National Meetings. RESULTS has been doing Saturday conference calls for decades and we may very well continue to do so. However, not everyone can attend a Saturday mid-day call each month. We’d like to know what you think. On tonight’s National Call, we’ll give people a chance to weigh in about possible dates for upcoming conference calls. If you’re unable to respond or participate in the call, we want to hear from you too. Here are the options for calls we’re considering:
Please send your choice(s) to Jos Linn at [email protected]. If you are open to more than one option, list all the ones you’d be available to do. Thank you for your feedback. We’ll announce the results in an upcoming Weekly Update. |
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Upcoming EventsGo to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Next Congressional Recesses: House: July 31 – September 7; Senate: August 8 – September 7. Request face-to-face meetings. Take the RESULTS Grassroots Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MJYGK9B. RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Meeting, August 11 at 8:00 pm ET. Join the meeting online at http://fuze.me/28130766 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, meeting ID: 28130766#. Listen to previous conference calls and meetings on our National Conference Calls page. RESULTS Introductory Call, August 12 at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website. RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Call, August 18 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. Join online at: http://fuze.me/27491886; or by phone at (201) 479-4595 and enter Meeting ID: 27491886. For more information, contact Jos Linn ([email protected]). Nominate RESULTS Grassroots Board Member. We have an open Grassroots Board seat this year. To nominate a grassroots volunteer to the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please send the person’s name to [email protected] or call 202-783-4800 x152 no later than September 15. 2016 RESULTS International Conference, June 25-28, 2016 in Washington, DC. Save the dates! Find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website. If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Lydia Pendley at [email protected]. You can download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report at: https://results.org/about/annual_report/. |