RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update June 1, 2021
Quote of the Week
“We are a country that boasts American companies, but refuses to do more in support of American workers and their children.”
– RESULTS Mississippi volunteer Dr. Tamora McConnell in a May 26 op-ed in the Mississippi Free Press
ANNOUNCEMENT
In anticipation of the RESULTS International Conference, the June 5, 2021 RESULTS National Webinar has been cancelled. Use this time to plan your lobby meetings during the conference Advocacy Week, June 14-18.
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 the Global Partnership for Education
Got Fifteen Minutes? Get signatures on the House and Senate GPE letters to the Administration
We are excited to report that we have two important letters to the Administration on the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), one in the House and one in the Senate, that are opening for signatures. The House letter is being led by Reps. Kilmer (D-WA) and Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and this bipartisan letter is calling on the Administration to commit $1 billion over five years in support of GPE’s 2021-2025 strategy for basic education. It will close on June 18. The Senate letter, led by Sen. Cardin (D-MD), calls for the same, and it will close on June 9. You can find the text of both letters on our website. We’ll be tracking signatures on our letter scorecard as well. If your representative or senators have previously taken an action in support of the Global Partnership for Education, this will be an inspiring additional action they can take to further their commitment to GPE.
TAKE ACTION: Ask your representative and senators to sign onto their respective chamber’s letter to the Administration asking for a commitment of $1 billion over five years for the Global Partnership for Education. Remember that you can find the text of the letters online. You can track our progress of getting signatures online as well.
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Get media on the Global Partnership for Education
We have one full month to go on our media push for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Help us get to our goal of 100 global education media hits from May 1 to July 1. Write your local paper about the need to support GPE’s remarkable work in the lives of young people. We still have a few more weeks in graduation season, the perfect time to emphasize the power and promise inherent in education. Look for graduation-related hooks in your local media and then play off the emphasis on education and potential, using it as inspiration to write and submit today. Don’t forget to report your media when it gets published and then leverage your published media by sending it to your legislators. Need help? Contact Jos Linn.
TAKE ACTION: Get published by writing on the Global Partnership for Education! Can we get 100 media hits on GPE before July 1? Use our action sheet and companion action alert on this topic to help you along.
QUICK NEWS ON GLOBAL POVERTY
House Resolution 225 on GPE. Has your representative cosponsored H.Res.225 in support of the Global Partnership for Education? So far, we still have 26 cosponsors, and we really want that number to soar. Remember that this is a great request for a representative who signed onto the House global education letter. Check out the cosponsor list and consider contacting your House member if they are not yet on the resolution. (Consider thanking them if they are!)
“Advocacy isn’t as daunting as a lot of people think it is.” Be inspired by the motivating words of advocate Jacoby Gonzales of Tulsa who says, “At the end of the day, [advocacy is] just talking to someone who’s another human being. It doesn’t have to be formal or stressful. You’re just having a conversation with somebody, and these conversations can change the policy landscape a lot more than just your everyday coffee shop conversation. RESULTS makes it easy to do this kind of advocacy. And these are discussions that can change people’s lives, that can change your own life.” Read more on our blog.
U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Submit letters to the editor today on housing and tax credits
Got Twenty-five Minutes? Use your advocacy skills to push housing and child poverty issues
Last week, Republican senators unveiled their counteroffer to President Biden’s latest infrastructure proposal. Sadly, the GOP proposal does not include any money for housing. Moreover, it is paid for using COVID relief funds, including money designated for the new Child Tax Credit expansion – a non-starter for most Democrats. Also, on Friday, the Biden Administration released its formal FY2022 budget. It includes a $9 billion increase for Housing and Urban Development that would create 200,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers, but with approximately 6 million additional HVCs needed to cover everyone eligible, it falls way short.
What this all says that it is up to advocates to get the job done. We must continue to push members of Congress to focus not on what is possible, but on what is needed. Our requests are simple: expand rental assistance to all eligible renters and make the recent EITC and CTC improvements permanent.
With members on recess this week, generate media while they’re at home to pressure them into helping workers and families make ends meet. In addition, set up your Advocacy Week lobby meetings (June 14-18), where you can push your housing and tax requests and share your recent media to amplify that message.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty-five minutes to make a difference this month:
Action 1: Request lobby meetings with members of Congress as part of Advocacy Week, June 14-18. Set up your face-to-face meetings this year, connect with housing or tax aides in congressional offices, or follow-up from your First 100 Days meetings. Our RESULTS International Conference resources page has a sample meeting request, background info on our issues, and much more. Please reach out to RESULTS staff for help setting up and preparing for your meetings.
Action 2: Submit your own letters to the editor telling your members of Congress by name to support expanding rental assistance and making the 2021 EITC and CTC provisions permanent. The May U.S. Poverty Action has what you need to write powerful letters (you can also use our online housing or a tax credit letters). Once published, please leverage your media and let us know you got published. If you need help with your letters, please contact Jos Linn for assistance.
QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY
White House marks anniversary of Tulsa massacre. Today marks the 100th anniversary of the bloodiest race catastrophe in American history – the Tulsa Race Massacre. On this day in 1921, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, OK, at the time the wealthiest Black community in the U.S., was destroyed by a white mob, resulting in hundreds Black Americans being killed, thousands left homeless, and businesses and homes burned to the ground. In light of this tragedy, the White House announced today that it plans to help build black wealth and reduce the racial wealth gap by addressing, among other things, racial discrimination in the housing market. This includes launching a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to address inequity in home appraisals, addressing zoning that perpetuates racial segregation, and conducting rulemaking to aggressively combat housing discrimination.
New papers from CBPP on housing vouchers. In a new paper, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) explains how rental markets can absorb many additional Housing Choice Vouchers even when there is a shortage in supply of affordable housing across the country. CBPP also posted last week their argument for a large-scale investment in rental assistance as part of economic recovery. However, one area that still needs attention is how to target assistance to those who struggle most with high housing costs.
HUD Secretary to homelessness council. It’s been announced the Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge will head the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), signaling the administration’s priority to address housing instability for millions of Americans. USICH is an interagency entity that coordinates the federal government’s response to homelessness. HUD has already committed $5 billion in American Rescue Plan funds for emergency housing vouchers for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. As the administration prioritizes who gets the vouchers, it’s important to expand rental assistance to everyone eligible so that people won’t have to experience homelessness before they get help.
Biden Administration reaffirms Equal Access Rule. In recognition of PRIDE month, we applaud HUD’s recent withdrawal of the former Trump Administration’s efforts to weaken the Equal Access Rule, reaffirming its commitment to ensure that all individuals – regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity – have equal access to federal housing programs, shelters, other buildings and facilities, benefits, services, and accommodations. But more work is needed to ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans in housing, employment, finance, jury service, education, and so many other areas.
RESULTS Announcements
Register for the Conference before June 10 deadline. The 2021 RESULTS International Conference starts next weekend, June 12-13. If you have not registered, please do so this week. We have an exciting agenda and great speakers lined up, not to mention all you need to get ready for Advocacy Week, June 14-18. We want to see you there – register today. Registration closes Thursday, June 10.
Have you done Advocacy Week lobby prep? We are actively getting you ready for lobby meetings during our conference Advocacy Week (June 14-18). RESULTS volunteers in dozens of states have been doing “lobby prep calls” with staff to plan our lobby meetings. If you are lobbying, please be sure to join your state’s call. If you are not sure when it is, please contact RESULTS staff for help. If it has already happened, connect with others in your state to get caught up (if you are not sure whom to contact, let RESULTS staff know). Also, visit our Conference Resources page for information and tools to help, including our new 2021 IC Checklist; come back frequently as we update it.
Nominate someone for Cameron Duncan Award. Each year, RESULTS recognizes a journalist or editor for outstanding work on issues related to poverty with the Cameron Duncan Media Award. If you would like to nominate a journalist, editor, or RESULTS volunteer for the award, please send a short e-mail to Jos Linn with your reasons for nominating them and links to recent media pieces demonstrating the nominee’s dedication to poverty issues. The deadline to submit is June 10.
Upcoming Events
Congressional schedule. The House and Senate are on recess this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.
Monday, June 7: Pre-International Conference/Advocacy Week Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Join at https://tinyurl.com/ICAdvocacyWeekPrep, passcode 2030.
Saturday June 12 and Sunday, June 13: 2021 RESULTS International Conference. Registration closes June 10. Advocacy Week will be the week following the conference.
Monday, June 14: Advocacy Week Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Join at https://tinyurl.com/ICAdvocacyWeekPrep, passcode 2030.
Wednesday, June 16: Advocacy Week Office Hour, 12:00 pm ET. Join at https://tinyurl.com/ICAdvocacyWeekPrep, passcode 2030.
No Monthly Policy Forums in June.
Monday, June 28: RESULTS Global Poverty Free Agent Webinar, 7:00 pm ET. Contact Lisa Marchal at [email protected] for information on how to join.
Wednesday, June 30: Action Network Monthly Webinar, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Monday, July 5: Independence Day holiday. All RESULTS offices closed.
Saturday, July 10: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
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 advocacy successes in lobby meetings, media, and outreach activities.
To join the RESULTS listserv for more RESULTS conversation, send an email to [email protected]
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 and job postings.