U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | January 26, 2015

“Thanks in part to the Deseret News' sustained advocacy about the EITC, we were able to make the pro-family provisions of the EITC permanent. But our work is not done.”

– RESULTS Salt Lake City volunteer David Billings in a January 20 letter to the editor in the Deseret News

In This Week’s Update:

• Got Two Minutes? Please Send in Your Group Plan (January Action)
• Got Ten Minutes? Invite Your Tax Aides to Friday’s Tax Credit Briefing
• Got Twenty Minutes? Schedule Face-to-Face Meetings for February Recess (January Action)
• Quick News
• Upcoming Events

Quick Action: Build on Recent Tax Victory – Urge Congress to Expand the EITC and Child Tax Credit

Got Two Minutes? Please Send in Your Group Plan (January Action)

There’s less than a week left in January and that means less than a week to submit your Group Plans. Thank you to the nine groups who have already submitted their plans. We really want to make 2016 a banner year and find more effective ways to support you and your group in reaching your goals. Help us do that by submitting your Group Plan this week!

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to submit your 2016 Group Plan Summary (PDF version) to Jos Linn at [email protected]. Our goal is to complete the process in January and have all Group Plans submitted by January 31. If you have not completed your Group Plan yet, please schedule a time this week to finish it. The January Action has information and links to help you with planning. Contact Jos with questions or if you have trouble submitting your Plan.

Got Ten Minutes? Invite Your Tax Aides to Friday’s Tax Credit Briefing

Every year, the IRS recognizes EITC Awareness Day. The day is designed to draw attention to the importance of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) (and other credits such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC)), to prompt individuals and families to inquire if they are eligible for these credits, and claim them when they file their taxes.

This Friday, January 29, is the 2016 EITC Awareness Day. That morning, the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and Tax Credits for Working Families are hosting a briefing in Washington, DC about the EITC and other working family credits. The Capitol Hill Policy Forum: What’s Next for Tax Credits for Low-Wage Workers? will include lawmakers, advocates, experts, and taxpayers to discuss the recent tax deal that made key EITC and CTC provisions permanent, as well as what’s next for these and other low-income tax credits. You can help build greater support for the EITC and CTC by urging your House and Senate tax aides to attend this briefing.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to call or e-mail your House and Senate tax aides and urge them to attend the January 29 EITC briefing. Find your aide names on our Elected Officials page. Here’s an example of what you could say in your request:

Dear _________,

I am a constituent of Sen./Rep.________________ from __________________. As someone who cares about the millions of Americans struggling each day to make ends meet, I am writing to ask that you attend a briefing this Friday in Washington, DC, the Capitol Hill Policy Forum: What’s Next for Tax Credits for Low-Wage Workers? presented by CFED and Tax Credits for Working Families. At the forum, lawmakers, advocates, experts, and taxpayers will discuss the important implications of the recent tax deal that made key EITC and CTC provisions permanent and thus prevented 16 million people, including 8 million children, from falling into or deeper into poverty (see more about the deal here). They will also talk about what’s next for these working family tax credits and how we can build on this recent success to help more working individuals and families get ahead.

Will you or someone in your office be able to attend this briefing? It is this Friday, January 29 from 9:00 – 11:30 am ET at the U.S. Capitol Visitors' Center, Rooms SVC 208-209. It is free and you can register at: https://eventgrid.com/Events/19159/capitol-hill-policy-forum-whats-next-for-tax-credits-for-low-wage-workers. Please let me know if you or someone in your office plans to attend. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

If the aide plans to attend the briefing, be sure to follow up with him/her to see how it went. If you have questions about contacting tax aides, contact Jos Linn ([email protected]).

Got Twenty Minutes? Schedule Face-to-Face Meetings for February Recess (January Action)

Thank you for everyone who requested meetings with members of Congress during last week’s House recess. We know at least one group had a successful meeting (Des Moines) and possibly more. In addition, some groups have meetings or town halls they are attending later this week. Great work! This is a good start for the year.

If you were not able to get a meeting last week, there is another opportunity coming up in February. Both the House and Senate will be on recess the week of February 15 for the President’s Day holiday. This will be right at the beginning of the budget process so a great time to remind your representatives and senators what their priorities should be for the FY 2017 budget. Once you get a meeting scheduled, please contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a lobby prep call to help you get ready. She can provide you with individualized coaching for your particular members of Congress.

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to contact schedulers to set up face-to-face meetings with your representatives and senators for the Presidents’ Day recess. See the January Action for tips on requesting meetings, including the language to use in your verbal or written request. You can find contact information and the names of the Washington DC schedulers on our Elected Officials page (under “Staff”). If you cannot get a sit-down meeting, be sure to ask if they have any town halls scheduled for that week. If they’re booked up in February, ask for the next possible date to meet (even if it’s a few months out).

Note: Some groups have been reluctant to request meetings not knowing what our 2016 U.S. Poverty Campaigns will be (we’ll have them confirmed before the February recess). We urge you to go ahead and request the meetings anyway, just because it can sometimes take a while to get something scheduled. Our online meeting request and the January Action has language you can use and once you get your meeting scheduled, contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to get specific details about topics and requests for your meeting. Print off a copy of our updated U.S. Poverty Lobby Requests to leave behind with your members of Congress, and don't forget to bring copies of media you have generated!

Quick News

Don’t Forget to Read Between the World and Me for February. In February, we’re trying an experiment with our monthly action. To better educate ourselves on race and poverty, we’re urging volunteers to read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. During the month, RESULTS groups will do a “book club” discussion about it as the February Action. We urge you to buy the book or borrow it from your local library so you’ll be able to read it before or during February. In addition, if you’d like to join our online “virtual book club” discussion about the book, join us on Thursday, February 18 at 1:00pm or 8:00pm ET. The February Action will be out next week with more details including a guide for your group discussions.

New Assets and Opportunity Scorecard Released. Yesterday, the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) released its 2016 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard. The Scorecard provides invaluable state-by-state data about wealth and assets, homeownership, education, health care, and jobs. This information is great to use in lobby meetings with members of Congress. Look at the Scorecard and see how your state is doing.

Child Nutrition Reauthorization Moves Forward in the Senate. Last Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved the Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016, which reauthorizes child nutrition programs for another five years. The bill now heads to the Senate floor; a vote for the bill has not been scheduled.

Join Champion Scale and Powermapping Webinar Tonight at 8 pm ET. Learn how to use the Champion Scale tool to get your member of Congress to do more, and find influential people in your community to help make the case for your members of Congress to take action using powermapping. Join at https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/31404402 or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 31404402#.

Invite Someone New to Friday’s RESULTS Intro Call. If you know someone who wants to make a difference in the world, invite that person to our next RESULTS Introductory Call this Friday, January 29 at 1:00 pm ET. This 30-minute overview is a great way to educate people how they can be a voice for change with RESULTS. Register for the call on the RESULTS website.

Upcoming Events

Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.

Congressional Recesses: House: February 13-21. Senate: February 13-21. Request face-to-face meetings.

RESULTS Champion Scale and Powermapping Webinar, January 26 at 8:00 pm ET. Join at https://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/f2988286/31404402 or dial (201) 479-4595, meeting ID 31404402#.

RESULTS Introductory Call, January 29, at 1:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, February 13 at 12:30 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 webinars on our National Webinars page.

Presidents’ Day, February 15. All RESULTS offices closed.

RESULTS Virtual Book Club Discussion: Between the World and Me, February 18 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. These calls will be a virtual book club to discuss the book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Anyone is welcomed to join the discussion. Note that U.S. Poverty Free Agents will participate in these calls in lieu of our regular third Tuesday calls in February. 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]).

2016 RESULTS International Conference, June 25-28, 2016 in Washington, DC. Save the dates!

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/.