RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update January 26, 2021

Quote of the Week

“Through RESULTS I have learned that my voice, used strategically and respectfully, is powerful.”

– RESULTS South Kitsap, WA volunteer Beth Wilson in a January 15 letter to the editor in the Kitsap Sun

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

As COVID-19 relief talks continue, we have celebrated the Biden Administration’s goal of dedicating $11 billion for international COVID-19 relief. But we know that the need is greater than that. To that end, our request remains clear; we are asking for at least $20 billion in additional global relief versus the proposed $11 billion. This money would go to mitigating the secondary impacts of COVID-19, including hunger and malnutrition, in low-income communities. The $20 billion should include $4 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to strengthen health systems and the fight against infectious diseases and no less than $2 billion for anti-hunger efforts.

We are excited to be approaching the start of the 2021 First 100 Days Campaign (officially kicking off February 6). The heart of the campaign’s goals is getting meetings with 100 percent of the Senate and 75 percent of the House now that the new congressional session and Administration are underway. Take the first step. Make your virtual lobby meeting requests and get prepared to make our $20 billion request of your members of Congress. To help you get your meetings scheduled, 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 January Action Sheet.

Finally, don’t miss 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 – registration will remain open until February 4.

TAKE ACTION: Utilize our lobbying support materials to start making your virtual lobby meeting requests. Coordinate with your group members and with advocates across the state on Senate meetings; also request meetings with your representatives. Start now, as it could take a bit of time for you to get your meetings booked. 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

You are a powerful voice in the nation’s media, and we need to harness that power as we work to shape the next COVID-19 relief 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. That’s why we are still asking for at least an additional $20 billion for global relief (versus the Administration’s proposed $11 billion) to mitigate the secondary impacts of COVID-19, including hunger and malnutrition, in low-income communities. That $20 billion should include $4 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to strengthen health systems and the fight against infectious diseases and no less than $2 billion for anti-hunger efforts.

TAKE ACTION: Have you ever written your paper? If you have, when was the last time you did? To paraphrase media heavy-hitter, advocate Willie Dickerson, we know that 100% of letters not submitted go unpublished. But you can utilize our online action alert and can share this action with others. You can write, and you can enlist others to write. 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 and no less than $2 billion for anti-hunger efforts. 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 an overview of our 2021 campaigns?  We have a comprehensive 2021 campaigns summary on our blog. Read up on our campaigns and get excited about all we have ahead of us.

How Do I Meet with my Congressional Office? If you missed the recent training on how to arrange and hold effective meetings with your senators and representatives, you can listen to/watch the playback online.

U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update

QUICK ACTION Tell Congress to pass more COVID relief

Got Fifteen Minutes? New data highlights importance of new COVID relief

In its first full week of work, the Biden Administration continues to make COVID relief a top priority. While the new President has issued a flurry of executive orders, including one extending the national eviction moratorium through the end of March, the Administration wants Congress to act soon to address the health and economic impacts of this still raging pandemic. And act they must. A new analysis from economist Mark Zandi and the Urban Institute shows that as of this month, American renters are $57 billion behind in rent. While the $25 billion in rental assistance passed in the December COVID bill will help, more is needed. President Biden has requested $30 billion in new rent relief money in his COVID proposal, but estimates are that twice that amount will be needed. RESULTS is therefore urging Congress to allocate an additional $30 billion on for rental assistance on top of the President’s request, for a total of $60 billion in any new COVID bill.

In addition, RESULTS strongly supports President Biden’s proposal to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for workers not raising children at home (including younger workers) and his proposal to increase the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and make it fully refundable for all low-income families. This article shows just how beneficial these changes would be for low-income families, more than tripling the EITC for workers without children in the home and more than doubling the refundable portion of the CTC for low-income families ($3,600 for each child under 6; $3,000 for each child 6-17). These and other provisions are why Columbia University researchers forecast that President Biden’s COVID plan could cut child poverty by more than half.

Time is of the essence! Congressional Democrats may move as soon as next week on a new COVID bill. Please submit your meetings requests now and be sure to weigh in with aides while you wait for them to take place.

TAKE ACTION: Take fifteen minutes to request virtual lobby meeting with your Senate and House offices. Use the January Action Sheet and new sample meeting request to contact schedulers now (you can find scheduler names on our Legislator Lookup page). Once you get a meeting, please contact RESULTS staff to help you prepare. Also, be sure to read our new housing and tax lobby “leave behinds” and plan to submit them as part of your virtual meetings (find them on our Lobbying page under “I need lobby materials”).

Got Fifteen Minutes? Contact Senate and House aides about COVID relief now

With more COVID relief a pressing priority, it’s important we weigh in now with congressional offices about passing a new bill that protects low-income Americans in the pandemic. In addition to speaking with members of Congress (see above), please reach out to your Senate and House offices to talk about what you want in a new COVID deal. Congress may move as soon as next week to draft up a budget package for COVID relief. Using the anti-poverty measures proposed by the Biden Administration as the starting point, urge aides to tell their bosses to:

• Speak to the Senate Banking Committee/House Financial Services members urging them to support an additional $60 billion in rental assistance to ensure renters most at risk of eviction stay stably housed during the pandemic ($60 billion = President Biden’s proposed $30 billion plus another $30 billion).
• Speak to Senate Finance Committee/House Ways and Means Committee members urging them to expand the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit as proposed by the Biden Administration.
• Speak to Senate/House Agriculture Committee members urging them to prioritize a boost in SNAP benefits, noting the new Administration’s commitment to extend those benefits for as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues.

TAKE ACTION: Contact Senate and House housing, tax, and agriculture aides now urging them to support the provisions listed above. Reach out to those aides you have worked with in the past on these issues (you can find aide names with our Legislator Lookup tool). If you need help finding aides or getting coaching for your calls, please contact Jos Linn or Meredith Dodson with your questions.

QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY

Use all the tools at your disposal to lobby Congress. Keep the pressure on Congress to pass new COVID relief by e-mailing members directly (and urging others you know to do the same) and by submitting a letter to the editor to your local paper.

President Biden increases SNAP. President Biden has signed an executive order increasing the Pandemic-EBT benefit under SNAP (formerly food stamps) by 15 percent. Pandemic EBT allows low-income families to receive a boost in benefits to make up for school meals lost due to pandemic closures. USDA is also looking at ways for states to increase SNAP benefits through Emergency Allotments.

SNAP rules withdrawn by USDA. The Biden Administration has withdrawn two harmful rules proposed by the Trump Administration that would have restricted eligibility and benefits under SNAP. The “Categorial Eligibility” rule would have restricted state flexibility for determining eligibility for SNAP, jeopardizing SNAP benefits for 3.1 million people and free school meals for 1 million children.  Additionally, the “Standard Utility Allowance” rule would have changed the way SNAP benefits are calculated, resulting in $4.5 billion cut in benefits over five years and the loss of 568 million meals per year. RESULTS applauds these decisions by the new Administration.

RESULTS Announcements

Register for First 100 Days Kickoff. We’re less than two weeks away from our big First 100 Days Kickoff Event. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), Loyce Pace, Peter Sands, Megan Curran, and Maureen Bowling are scheduled to speak. The event is Saturday, February 6 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET. Register for this exciting (and free) event today (deadline is February 4).  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 Researching Your Members of Congress training on Thursday. Want to learn more about your member(s) of Congress so that you can engage in more effective advocacy? Join our always popular Researching Your Members of Congress training to learn about tips and tools that you can use to get to know your legislators – their backgrounds, current committee work, and more. The webinar is this Thursday, January 28 at 8:30 pm ET. Register for this training today (and if you missed our How Do I Meet with My Congressional Office training last week, you can find the recording and slides here).

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 followed by a virtual Advocacy Week. Reserve these dates in your calendar and stay tuned for more details. If you have ideas for session at the Conference, please submit them here by January 31.

RESULTS is hiring. RESULTS is seeking a highly motivated individual to fill the position of Senior Associate, U.S. Poverty Policy. If you are interested, please check out the job posting here.

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. Please remember that the February 6 webinar, because it is a special event, has a separate registration form.

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 the January 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.

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule. The House is on recess this week; the Senate is in session. Submit your remote meeting requests today.

Thursday, January 28: Researching Your Members of Congress training webinar, 8:30 pm ET. 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. The last day for registration is February 4.

Monday, February 8: First 100 Days Policy Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Do you have policy questions related to your First 100 Days congressional meetings? Pop into this office hour and ask those questions! Join at https://tinyurl.com/First100OfficeHour, passcode: First100.

Tuesday, February 9: Zoom Basics Training Webinar, 8:30 pm ET. Learn basic features of Zoom so that you can use Zoom as a tool to mobilize and even strengthen your group. Register today.

Thursday, February 11: Quarterly call-in with Grassroots Board Members, 9:00 pm ET. Click for Zoom link to the call-in.

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

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.