RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update January 5, 2021
Quote of the Week
“While this relief bill is a good start… it should be much larger and more comprehensive. Congress needs to work on a larger relief package.”
– RESULTS Pittsburgh volunteer Ben Calloway in a December 30 letter to the editor in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Table of Contents
Join the RESULTS National Webinar this Saturday, January 9
Join us this Saturday, January 9 for the National Webinar! We are excited to lift off in this new year with our first grassroots webinar for 2021. With the flurry of congressional activity at the end of 2020 and the dawn of a new Congress and new Administration, we are eagerly rolling up our sleeves to get started on our 2021 advocacy. On January 9, we will be utilizing our 3-part format for the webinar: 1:00-1:30 pm ET will be our U.S. poverty segment with guest speaker Ellen Nissenbaum of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 1:30 – 2:00 pm ET will be our Grassroots Café, and 2:00-2:30 pm ET will be our global poverty segment. You won’t want to miss it, as we take stock of how we finished in 2020 and start to get a sense of where our advocacy will – and can – take us in 2021, specifically in the first 100 days of the new Administration. Come along for information that will motivate and sharing that will inspire.
We have a new webinar registration form for 2021 and each person will need to register to get access to the webinar, so please register today! Look for an e-mail later this week with login info for the webinar.
TAKE ACTION: Register today for the grassroots National Webinar this Saturday, January 9 at 1:00 pm ET. Invite others to join and get ready for a powerful start to the year. The slides for the webinar will be available on Friday afternoon on our National Webinars page.
Brief COVID package drama ends in good news
As noted in our December 22 Weekly Update, Congress had finally reached agreement on a new $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, which was coupled with an “omnibus” spending bill for FY 2021. Both the House and Senate easily passed the bill, and it was sent to President Trump for signature. Since the Administration was part of the negotiations, it was expected the President would sign it post haste. He did not.
After the bill was sent to him, he released a video calling the bill a “disgrace” and demanding, among other things, that $600 per person stimulus checks included in the agreement be increased to $2,000. Democrats in Congress quickly jumped on board with the plan, but Senate Republicans pushed back. Several days of drama ensued with no one knowing for sure if the President would sign the bill. In the meantime, unemployment benefits for millions of Americans expired as the bill sat on the President’s desk. Finally, the President relented and signed the bill on December 27, allowing much-needed relief to go out to Americans suffering in the pandemic. The House did pass a subsequent bill to increase the stimulus payments to $2,000 but it was defeated in the Senate.
Again, the passage of this bill is a victory for your advocacy in 2020. Your push for lawmakers to focus on helping people and countries suffering in this pandemic helped make this success possible. As a reminder, here are some of the important provisions from both the COVID bill:
- $25 billion in emergency rental assistance with a priority for low-income renters most at risk of eviction (more on the housing specifics here)
- Extension of the national CDC eviction moratorium for one month – please share the CDC Eviction Moratorium Declaration Form and Moratorium FAQ with people you know
- 15 percent boost to SNAP for six months to help families put food on the table
- Allowing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) workers and families to use their 2019 income when calculating the credits on their 2020 taxes
- $4 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which will mean millions of people in low-income countries have access to a COVID vaccine
In addition, the omnibus spending bill increased funding for global education, maternal and child health, and TB prevention and treatment. For full details on what was passed, see our Coronavirus and Poverty blog post for December 21, 2020, as well RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter’s reflections on the deal.
While these investments will do a lot of good, they are by no means exhaustive. Much more will be needed as the pandemic worsens. In 2021, we must work to ensure that everyone makes it through this crisis and also address the underlying issues of poverty and injustice that the pandemic made so glaringly obvious. Our First 100 Days Campaign will be our first opportunity to do that. Be sure to join us for our National Webinar this weekend to learn more about our 2021 U.S. and Global Poverty Campaigns and what you can do to make them a reality.
TAKE ACTION: Get started now on our 2021 agenda by submitting letters to the editor urging Congress to pass more relief to fight the coronavirus and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. Go to our Action Center page to find templates for new letters to the editor you can submit today. In 2020, RESULTS volunteers got over 700 media pieces published, which was vital in our push for COVID relief. Start now in making 2021 even more successful by sending in your letters today!
U.S. AND GLOBAL POVERTY QUICK NEWS
Sign onto Eviction Moratorium Extension Letter. The recent COVID package extended the national eviction moratorium through the end of January. 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 January 15.
New piece by Dr. Madhukar Pai. Dr. Madhukar Pai, our motivating December National Webinar guest, has written a new piece titled “People Power, Not Powerful People, Can Help End Inequality.” Read and discover even more motivation!
RESULTS Announcements
Please complete your group roadmaps. Thanks to the many of you who have met in your groups to do your roles and goals for 2021 in your group roadmaps. If you have not met yet, please do so ASAP. You can find our 2021 Roadmap Guide, Individual Planning Form, and Grassroots Roles reference on our Outreach and Planning page (under “My group wants to make our plans”). If you have questions or need the link to your group’s specific roadmap, please contact Jos Linn. If possible, please complete your roadmaps by this Friday, January 8.
New registration for 2021 National Webinars. Our first National Webinar of 2021 will be Saturday, January 9 at 1:00 pm ET (see more above). We have a new registration form for 2021 and each person will need to register to get access to the webinar. Please register today!
Register for First 100 Days Kickoff. Plan to attend the Kickoff Event for our 2021 First 100 Days campaign on Saturday, February 6. Be sure to register for this exciting (and free) event.
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
Friday, January 8: Deadline to finish group roadmaps. Find our 2021 Roadmap materials on our Outreach and Planning page (under “My group wants to make our plans”).
Saturday, January 9: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. We have a new registration form for 2021 National Webinars, and each person will need to register to get access to the webinar, so please register today! On January 9, we will be utilizing our 3-part format: 1:00 pm ET will be our U.S. poverty segment, 1:30 pm ET will be our Grassroots Café, and 2:00 pm ET will be our global poverty segment.
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.
Thursday, February 11: Quarterly call-in with Grassroots Board Members, 9:00 pm ET. Click for Zoom link to the call-in.
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. Including our special edition 2019 Annual Report.
RESULTS Staff directory.