RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update July 20, 2021
Quote of the Week
“Vaccination is our pathway out of this pandemic, but there are not enough vaccines being produced quickly enough so that everyone has access.”
– RESULTS Oakland volunteer Susan Oehser in a July 13 letter to the editor in the Post Star
Table of Contents
- Global Poverty Campaigns Update
- U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
- RESULTS Announcements
- Upcoming Events
- Grassroots Resources
Global Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Urge Representatives to Sign onto Vaccine Access Letter
Got Fifteen Minutes? Ask your representative TODAY to sign onto vaccine access “Dear Colleague” letter
A new letter led by Reps. Malinowski, Krishnamoorthi, and Jayapal, directed at Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer, is focused on making sure that COVID-19 vaccines, a true global good, indeed get to places in the world that desperately need them. The letter asks that the budget reconciliation bill include up to $34 billion to speed up COVID-19 vaccine production for global distribution, so time is of the essence. Personalize your outreach — say why you are passionate about this issue — and send a request to your representative today that they sign onto the letter. Find the text of the letter and instructions on how to sign on here. The letter is slated to close on July 21; now is the time to act.
TAKE ACTION: Use our action alert to contact your representative about this crucial vaccine access letter. If our country is to live up to our obligation as a world leader in times of crisis, we must build on the promises and progress we’ve made and ramp up our global COVID-19 response even more powerfully. We can make good on our potential to lead in this crisis through the upcoming budget reconciliation bill that is being considered.
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Write or call President Biden about global vaccine access
The development of safe, effective vaccines against a deadly pandemic disease less than a year after it emerged is an extraordinary achievement, made possible by public investment in science and technology. It is unconscionable for rich countries to hoard the resources and know-how that could end the misery of COVID-19. Effective vaccines can end this pandemic, but they’re not being produced fast enough to reach everyone who needs them. Nine out of ten people in low-income countries will not receive a single COVID-19 vaccination dose this year. Across the continent of Africa, just 1% of the population is fully vaccinated.
President Biden has the opportunity, authority, and obligation to lead a global effort to ensure communities everywhere have access to vaccines. Please call on President Biden to take action.
TAKE ACTION: Utilize our action alert to write or call President Biden. He must lead a global effort to bring together industry, governments, and global health institutions to urgently increase the supply of vaccines — and, if necessary, use his authority to compel companies to share life-saving, taxpayer-funded innovation with the rest of world. Please write or call today.
QUICK NEWS ON GLOBAL POVERTY
Get global vaccine advocacy resources. Did you miss our national webinar on July 10 which highlighted global vaccine access? Enjoy the webinar playback and companion slide deck and learn more about this incredibly urgent topic in the global poverty campaigns section of the webinar. Additionally, check out our recent blog post which highlights the global vaccine access conversation we had with Rob Weissman, president of Public Citizen, during the webinar.
COVID-19’s impact on AIDS, TB, and malaria. Madeline Eliminowski of Friends of the Global Fight offers a guest post on how the pandemic has had an effect on our work to stem the tides of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
House and Senate Resolutions on global education. The Global Partnership for Education replenishment will take place at the end of July. Has your representative cosponsored H.Res. 225, and have your senators cosponsored S.Res. 240 in support of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE)? This is a great request for a member of Congress who signed onto a global education appropriations letter or the GPE letters to the Administration. Check out the resolution cosponsor lists for H.Res.225 and S.Res.240 and contact your members of Congress if they are not yet on the resolutions. Thank them if they have already cosponsored.
U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Urge Congress to support housing and child well-being
Got Twenty Minutes? Use more media to build support for housing stability and child well-being
The next few weeks will be important on our U.S. poverty campaigns. Last week, Senate Democrats came to agreement on a $3.5 trillion economic recovery plan, which will be the basis of a budget resolution that the Senate and House will vote on in the next two weeks. As a reminder, the budget resolution is a blueprint of priorities for the economic recovery plan using the reconciliation process. It will also include instructions for tax committees to find revenue to offset the cost of the plan. Once the resolution is passed, relevant committees with begin work on drafting the actual economic recovery legislation, which will be voted on in the fall.
What this means for RESULTS is that we must keep the pressure on Congress to expand rental assistance via Housing Choice Vouchers and to make the new EITC and CTC provisions permanent. While the budget resolution will not include specifics about these programs, it will outline what share of the overall plan the housing committees (Senate Banking; House Financial Services) and the tax committees (Senate Finance; House Ways and Means) will have to work with. The more they have, the better chance we have of getting our specific policies enacted in the final economic recovery legislation. Getting media urging Congress to prioritize the EITC, CTC, and Housing Choice Vouchers will help make that happen.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to first send a letter urging Congress to support workers and children by making the new EITC/CTC provisions permanent (use the new CTC monthly payments as a hook). Then, send a letter urging Congress to support low-income renters by providing guaranteed, multi-year for Housing Choice Vouchers (use NLIHC’s new Out of Reach report or the expiration of the national eviction moratorium on July 31 as a hook). The July 2021 U.S. Poverty Action has updated letter templates you can use (as does our website). When published, please forward letters to the tax or housing aides for your members of Congress (also, please let RESULTS know). If you need help with your letters, please contact Jos Linn for assistance.
Be sure to join our U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum this Thursday, July 22 at 8:00 pm ET with Megan Curran of Columbia University, who will overview new data on the anti-poverty impacts of expanding the Child Tax Credit and Housing Choice Vouchers. Register for the U.S. Forum today.
Got Twenty Minutes? Help build support for new legislation expanding housing vouchers
Last week, House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) introduced major housing bills that, if enacted, would provide significant investments in housing infrastructure and transform housing assistance for millions of Americans struggling to afford their homes. The Ending Homelessness Act (H.R. 4496) expands Housing Choice Vouchers over ten years with guaranteed, multi-year funding so anyone who is eligible for assistance can get it. The bill would also ban source of income discrimination against tenants using a voucher to pay their rent.
Chairwoman Waters also introduced the Housing is Infrastructure Act (H.R. 4497), which funds the national Housing Trust Fund to build homes for extremely low-income households and invest in America’s public housing. This bill also provides much-needed funding for other critical housing and homelessness programs and will fund $150 billion in housing choice vouchers. To help make sure a voucher expansion is included in the upcoming economic recovery legislation, we need members of Congress to co-sponsor and support both of these bills.
The third bill introduced is the Downpayment Toward Equity Act (H.R. 4495) that would help address the racial wealth gap and racial disparities in homeownership by creating a down payment assistance program for first-time, first-generation homebuyers.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to pressure Congress into including guaranteed, multi-year funding for Housing Choice Vouchers in recovery legislation this year by urging your representatives to co-sponsor the Ending Homelessness Act and the Housing is Infrastructure Act. Contact the housing aide in your congressional offices and ask that their bosses cosponsor the bill. To bolster your case, send them new research from Columbia University showing how expanding vouchers reduces poverty. If you have questions, please contact Michael Santos. Also, for a great overview of Housing Choice Vouchers, listen to the first part of the July National Webinar with Ann Oliva of CBPP.
QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY
Recent report highlights the gulf between wages and rent affordability. Our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition released last week their annual Out of Reach report, highlighting how the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour falls way short of the 2021 “National Housing Wage” of $24.90 per hour needed to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home ($20.40 per hour for a one-bedroom). The report includes the housing wage for each state as well.
ICYMI: Hearing on groundbreaking housing investments. The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on July 20 on “Building Back a Better, More Equitable Housing Infrastructure for America: Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development”. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge testified and answered questions in support of robust, long-term housing assistance and investments for many struggling Americans, which includes the groundbreaking housing bills introduced by Rep. Maxine Waters (see above).
Sign your local RESULTS group onto EITC and CTC letter. Show your support for Congress making the new EITC and CTC provisions permanent by signing your local RESULS group onto a new sign-on letter for local groups. The deadline is July 26. Also, if you have not signed your local RESULTS group onto the Americans for Tax Fairness letter urging Congress to enact tax provisions to narrow the income and wealth gaps, please do so today.
Announcements
Join op-ed writing workshop tonight! Need help in writing your first or next op-ed? Register for our Op-ed Writing workshop tonight, July 20 at 9:00 pm ET. Be sure to bring an op-ed idea or a draft first sentence of your op-ed to get started. We also recommend you listen to our previous op-ed training at: https://results.org/resources/results-op-ed-101-training/.
Register for July Monthly Policy Forums this Thursday. Our next U.S. and Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forums will be held this Thursday, July 22. Our U.S. forum will feature Megan Curran of Columbia University overviewing new data on the anti-poverty impacts of expanding the Child Tax Credit and Housing Choice Vouchers. The global forum will feature Data for Progress as they discuss the effort to expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine worldwide. Register for the U.S. Forum at 8:00 pm ET and/or the Global Forum at 9:00 pm ET today.
Become a RESULTS Regional Coordinator. Regional Coordinators (RCs) are vital volunteer leaders in our network, helping to coach and support RESULTS groups around the country to be the best they can be. If you are interested in the application process for becoming a Regional Coordinator with RESULTS, or are simply interested in learning more about the role, sign up to attend one of our 30-minute information sessions on Monday, August 2 at 8:00 pm ET or Thursday, August 5 at 1:00 pm ET. If you cannot attend or want more information about the application process, please contact Lisa Marchal.
Upcoming Events
Congressional schedule. The House and Senate are in session this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.
Tuesday, July 20: Op-ed Writing Workshop, 9:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Wednesday, July 21: Action Network Monthly Webinar, 8:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Thursday, July 22: U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Register today. Guest: Megan Curran, Columbia University. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Thursday, July 22: Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Register today. Guest: Data for Progress. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Monday, August 2: Regional Coordinator Information Session, 8:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Thursday, August 5: Regional Coordinator Information Session, 1:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Note: There is no National Webinar and there are no monthly policy forums in August.
Grassroots Resources
Learn about the RESULTS Experts on Poverty.
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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.
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