RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update January 12, 2021
Quote of the Week
“With democracy under threat, RESULTS will build an even bigger movement working with lawmakers to end poverty and oppression in all its forms.”
– Statement from RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter in response to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6
Table of Contents
- Global Poverty Campaigns Update
- U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
- RESULTS Announcements
- Upcoming Events
- Grassroots Resources
Global Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Write a letter to the editor on prioritizing global health and nutrition during the COVID-19 crisis
Got Fifteen Minutes? Schedule your first 2021 lobby meetings with your members of Congress
It’s a new year, a new Congress, a new time for building and furthering relationships with our elected officials. As we heard on the January 2021 National Webinar, a central part of the 2021 First 100 Days Campaign (which will officially be kicking off February 6) is getting meetings with 100 percent of the Senate and 75 percent of the House as we embark on this new congressional session and Administration. The first step to that achievement is making your virtual lobby meeting requests. You can use our draft meeting request letter and the request laser talk, available on our Lobbying support page under “I want to request a lobby meeting.” You can also get support via our new January Action Sheet. Make your requests today to get the ball rolling. Consider reviewing our 2021 campaigns via our website so that you become familiar with what we’ll be advocating for in the weeks and months to come. Finally, plan to attend the Kick-off Event for our First 100 Days Campaign on Saturday, February 6. This is the normal date of the National Webinar, but this event has exciting programming for the afternoon (1:00-5:00 pm ET). Make sure to register for this free event today.
TAKE ACTION: Utilize our lobbying support materials to start making your virtual lobby meeting requests. Coordinate with your group members and with groups across the state on Senate meetings, and be bold about also requesting meetings with your representatives. Get things moving for the beginning of the 2021 First 100 Days Campaign so that we all can have a running start filling up our online map with meetings held!
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Write a letter to the editor on an emergency COVID-19 response
The start of this new year has been anything but calm. But despite all that is dominating our thoughts and the news headlines, we expect further COVID-19 relief legislation to be considered relatively soon. We want to shape that conversation. As we know, global resources normally allocated to treat and prevent infectious diseases like AIDS, TB, and malaria, or leading childhood killers like malnutrition, pneumonia, and diarrhea, have been diverted to address COVID-19. So far, only 0.2% of the United States’ response to the pandemic has gone to global efforts to curtail COVID-19’s effects. That’s why, here at the start of the year, and when COVID-19 relief talks resume, we are asking for at least $20 billion for global relief to mitigate the secondary impacts of COVID-19, including hunger and malnutrition, in low-income communities. That $20 billion should include at least $4 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to strengthen health systems and the fight against infectious diseases.
TAKE ACTION: Set aside some time to write to your paper for the first time or to write to a new paper. You can even utilize our online action alert and share this action with others. Ask for a COVID-19 relief bill that includes at least $20 billion in international development assistance – an amount that should include $4 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. If you are published, send your letter to your legislators. (If you’re tweeting your media once it’s published, use the hashtag #COVIDReliefNow.)
QUICK NEWS ON GLOBAL POVERTY
Interested in some new global nutrition information? Watch the recording of the Bread for the World Institute’s webinar “Looking Forward to 2021: Food Systems that Nourish.”
Have you read our coronavirus blogposts? We have a regularly updated section on our blog dedicated to relevant news on on-going COVID-19 relief negotiations. Check it out if you haven’t already.
U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Use media to push for more COVID relief
Got Fifteen Minutes? Request your first lobby meetings of the year
Thanks to everyone who joined in the January 2021 RESULTS National Webinar. After the horrific events of last week, it was inspiring to see nearly 350 people from around the country gather in solidarity to continue the work of ending poverty. And the work must continue.
As pointed out on the webinar by Ellen Nissenbaum of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the next few months will likely be busy with the Biden Administration working hard to pass big legislation targeted at addressing COVID-19, income inequality, and climate change. The Biden Administration is expected to release a new COVID bill proposal before the Inauguration and, as Ellen explained, there will likely be a short window of time between its release and action by Congress. Advocates must be active in that window. In doing so, Ellen reminded is that we must not repeat the mistakes of the Great Recession of 2008, when low-income Americans and communities of color endured a longer recovery than everyone else. Any new COVID deal must put the needs of those constituencies first.
For RESULTS, that means meeting with lawmakers ASAP as part of our First 100 Days Campaign to push for additional relief to help renters stay housed (and expansion/extension of the eviction moratorium as needed), expansions of the EITC and CTC for workers and low-income families, and an extension of the SNAP boost past June. These meetings are also an opportunity for you to lay the groundwork for broader policies to address poverty beyond the COVID crisis. Read more about our 2021 U.S. Poverty Campaigns in this overview.
TAKE ACTION: Take fifteen minutes to submit requests to your House and Senate offices for virtual face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress. Use our January Action Sheet and new sample meeting request to contact schedulers now (you can find scheduler names on our Legislator Lookup page). Your focus for these meetings is making sure Congress enacts “new COVID legislation and other long-term policies that provide robust assistance to low-income renters, strengthens assistance for food insecurity households, and expands tax policies for low-income workers and families.” We’ll track our progress on this online map for the meetings held! If you need help with submitting requests, please contact Jos Linn for assistance. Also, remember to register for our First 100 Days Kick-Off Event on February 6.
Got Fifteen Minutes? Use media to push Congress to act
With the Senate on recess, the House working on impeachment, and the Inauguration next week, it could be a few weeks before you get meetings with members of Congress (but please submit your requests now). While you wait for your meetings to get scheduled, use the media to highlight the need for more relief. What was passed in December was merely a down payment on what is needed to help low-income Americans get through this crisis. Tell members of Congress to make more COVID relief their first order of business.
TAKE ACTION: After making your lobby meeting requests, take fifteen minutes to submit a letter to the editor published urging Congress to pass more COVID relief as soon as possible. Use our updated online media alert to send your letter today.
QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY
Sign onto Eviction Moratorium Extension Letter. The recent COVID package extended the national eviction moratorium through the end of January. That’s not enough time. Sign your local RESULTS group onto this letter urging the Biden Administration to extend and improve the moratorium once they take office. The deadline to sign on is this Friday, January 15.
Black and Hispanic Americans face higher risk of eviction. In a new analysis from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the number of Black and Hispanic renter households who report that they expect to be evicted in the next two months is double that of white households. This is due in large part to pre-existing inequities experienced by households of color (lower wages, higher rent), inequities that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
RESULTS Announcements
Register for First 100 Days Kickoff. Plan to attend the virtual Kick-off Event for our 2021 First 100 Days campaign on Saturday, February 6. Be sure to register for this exciting (and free) event. The event will be held from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET. Note: Registration for this event is different from our normal monthly webinars; you must register for the February 6 event separately to receive the login details.
Join RESULTS trainings this month. To help you hit the ground running in your advocacy this year, RESULTS is offering multiple trainings this month focused on meeting with members of Congress. Join a training on how to use Zoom for meetings January 13 at 8:30 pm ET, a training on how to have effective lobby meetings on January 21 at 8:30 pm ET, and a training on how to research your members of Congress on January 28 at 8:30 pm ET. Find registration links in the Events section below or on the RESULTS Events Calendar.
Mark your calendars for the 2021 International Conference. The 2021 RESULTS International Conference will be held June 12-13, 2021, and like last year, it will be held virtually with a virtual Advocacy Week immediately following. Reserve these dates in your calendar and stay tuned for more details.
Listen to National Webinar recording. For an excellent overview of our U.S. and global poverty campaigns for 2021, please listen to the recording and view the slides from last weekend’s RESULTS National Webinar.
Report your advocacy. You did incredible work in 2020. Make sure it gets documented – lobby meetings, media hits, and outreach events – via our simple reporting forms.
Please complete your group roadmaps. If you have not completed your 2021 Group Roadmaps, please do so as soon as possible. If you need assistance, contact Jos Linn.
New registration for 2021 National Webinars. Our next regular National Webinar of 2021 will be Saturday, March 6 at 1:00 pm ET. We have a new registration form for 2021 and each person will need to register to get access to the National Webinar. If you registered for the January webinar, you’re all set; once you have registered for the 2021 webinars, you are registered for the whole year. Please register today if you haven’t already. But again, please remember the February 6 webinar, because it is a special event, has a separate registration form.
Upcoming Events
Congressional schedule. The House is in session; the Senate will return on January 19. Submit your remote meeting requests today.
Wednesday, January 13: BIPOC Caucus, 8:30 pm ET. Featuring Asia Bijan Thompson, Esq., Law Guardian with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender. The topic will be how the judicial system affects poverty and the BIPOC community. To register, email Yolanda Gordon.
Wednesday, January 13: Basic Training on Zoom, 8:30 pm ET. Need to brush up on some Zoom basics so that you can utilize this tool for advocacy in 2021? Come on along to this training. Register today.
Monday, January 18: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Holiday. All RESULTS offices closed.
Tuesday, January 19: U.S. Poverty Free Agents Webinars, 1:00 and 8:00 pm ET. For information on how to join, please contact Jos Linn.
Thursday, January 21: How Do I Meet with My Congressional Office? 8:30 pm ET. Join us to learn the basics of how to schedule, plan, and meet with your congressional office on the issues you care about. Register today.
Monday, January 25: Global Poverty Free Agents Webinar, 8:00 pm ET. For information on how to join, please contact Lisa Marchal.
Thursday, January 28: Researching Your Members of Congress, 8:30 pm ET. Want to learn more about your member(s) of Congress so that you can engage in more effective advocacy? Join this webinar to learn about tips and tools that you can use to get to know your legislators – their backgrounds, current committee work, and more. Register today.
Friday, January 29: RESULTS African Leadership Cohort Virtual Meet and Greet, 8:00 pm ET. The African Leadership Cohort will be hosting the first-of-its-kind virtual get- together in January. We are inviting all RESULTS volunteers of the African Diaspora to join us for a meet & greet session. Please email Alice Aluoch for the login information.
Saturday, February 6: RESULTS First 100 Days Kickoff Event, 1:00 pm ET. Register today. Note that this is a separate registration from our normal National Webinars. You will receive login info for the event a day or so before it begins.
Thursday, February 11: Quarterly call-in with Grassroots Board Members, 9:00 pm ET. Click for Zoom link to the call-in.
Saturday June 12 and Sunday, June 13: 2021 RESULTS International Conference. We will have more information on this virtual event soon, including registration info.
Grassroots Resources
Learn about the RESULTS Experts on Poverty.
To update volunteer info (e.g., subscribe to the Weekly Update or action alerts, add new advocate information, update an existing advocate’s information or preferences), use our Volunteer Information Form.
Find actions and volunteer resources on our Current Volunteers page, including our anti-oppression resources.
Remember to please report your recent grassroots successes in lobby meetings, media pieces, and outreach activities.
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.