RESULTS volunteers protect U.S. anti-poverty programs with deep advocacy (Part 3 of 3)
Building new relationships — and partners — on Capitol Hill
A number of RESULTS groups are just beginning their relationships with members of Congress and their staff. Their goal is to find common ground and open channels of communication. Advocates in northern California introduced themselves to Lateefah Simon in the fall of 2024. At the time, she was a candidate for the seat formerly held by Representative Barbara Lee.
Representative Simon (D-CA) went on to win the seat, and volunteers had their first meeting with her legislative aide in early April. Volunteers from RESULTS’ partner organization Together Women Rise joined them. The advocates told the legislative aide about RESULTS and our mission. “We’re on almost every continent, and we have volunteers in just about every district in the U.S.,” said Sue Oehser.
They asked the aide to share his background. They probed the congresswoman’s interest in RESULTS’ priorities, such as expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to help more people move out of poverty. And they demonstrated that they could be a resource.
Georgia Platts explained a way to improve the CTC by phasing in the credit on a per child basis. Doing so would increase the benefit for families with lower incomes who currently receive smaller credits than wealthier families with multiple children. She also suggested improving the EITC by expanding it to people outside the current 25 to 64 age range. The aide sounded like he felt positive toward these suggestions. He requested more information, and Georgia followed up with him after the meeting.
When it was time to end the meeting, the group made sure to ask the most effective way to communicate with the office going forward. “The more we hear from you, the more we’re able to inform our work,” the aide answered. “Feel free to follow up — you have my email.”
Shoring up champions for the end of poverty
Advocates have also been encouraging members who support these programs to be aggressive in pushing back on proposed cuts.
Brand new advocate Alexis Cortes spoke to Representative Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) about her experiences with Medicaid, which is called Apple Health in Washington state. The program, she shared, is helping her family break the cycle of generational poverty.
The representative quoted Alexis in her official social media accounts. And she tagged other lawmakers to galvanize support for Medicaid. That lobby meeting turned into an online advocacy moment that reached thousands.
In Colorado, Marty Karnopp teared up when talking to Senator Michael Bennet’s (D-CO) aide about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She shared the devastating impact that reducing SNAP benefits would have on children, seniors, and people with disabilities. “I get emotional about these issues,” she said. “RESULTS was founded to end hunger and poverty. It’s so cold to deny food, and it has a cascading effect on our whole society.”
Colorado volunteers have been meeting with Senator Bennet’s office for 16 years. During that time, they have supported him in becoming a champion for SNAP and the CTC. Now they wanted him to step up and do even more.
After urging the office to fight harder for the programs, Nancy Jackson said, “We feel confident the Senator has demonstrated support, but this may be a marathon. We also ask — because he has shown that he can work across the aisle — that he try to nudge his colleagues to stand up and do what’s right for our country and for the world’s health, peace, and prosperity.”
This is a three-part series exploring RESULTS’ advocacy efforts. Read Part 1 and Part 2.
