RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update March 30, 2021
Quote of the Week
“A troubling decline in new TB cases is being reported during country lockdowns with a rise in undetected cases. This is a great opportunity to make a change in the world.”
– RESULTS Dallas volunteer Amelie Jacobs in a March 24 letter to the editor in the Dallas Morning News
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 to your members of Congress on FY22 funding for nutrition, TB, education.
Got Twenty Minutes? Submit our appropriations requests and sign-on letters to your representative’s foreign policy aide.
We hope you are making plans to attend this Saturday’s (April 3) national webinar at 1:00 pm ET! Register today. (Registrations will be checked up to an hour prior to the webinar.) The global poverty segment of the webinar will be appropriations-focused and will feature Keifer Buckingham, a Senior Policy Advisor at the Open Society Foundations and the Open Society Policy Center in Washington, DC. Keifer is a former Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) with experience in the appropriations process.
As you plan for Saturday, note that the House State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations (SFOPS) leadership (Reps. Lee and Rogers) has set an updated deadline of April 28 to hear from other representatives about their development assistance spending priorities for fiscal year 2022. This means that your representative has likely set an imminent deadline to gather input from constituents like you. We also have two new appropriations sign-on letters you can ask your representatives to sign on to. Find them on our FY22 appropriations sign-on letter blog post. (This will be updated regularly). You can ask your representatives to do both—submit requests and sign on to letters. Don’t wait.
Here’s what to do if you have questions on how to submit your appropriations requests:
- Go to your representative’s website and search for “appropriations.” Many offices have forms and deadlines on their websites. If you find forms, send them to Dorothy Monza ([email protected]) and Crickett Nicovich ([email protected]) along with the deadline for having them filled out. They will fill them out and return them to you to send to the foreign policy aide along with our appropriations request sheets.
- If you don’t find forms on the website, call the foreign policy aide for your representative and ask what the deadline is for submitting SFOPS appropriations requests to their office. Also, ask if they have forms to fill out or if you can just submit our request sheets. If you don’t know who the foreign policy aide is, call the office and ask, or contact the Grassroots Impact staff.
- Follow your call with an e-mail to the foreign policy aide, including any unanswered questions about deadlines and forms, along with our appropriations requests. Explain why these funding levels are important (drawing on the request sheets or laser talks for your explanation).
- Alternate calling and e-mailing until you get a clear response on the procedure for submitting the appropriations requests and find out whether your representative will include our requests in their submission. Remember, if they have forms to fill out, we can help. Send them to Dorothy Monza ([email protected]) and Crickett Nicovich ([email protected]) along with the deadline for having them filled out. Or bring the forms to the First 100 Days Office Hour at 4:00 pm ET on Monday, April 5. Join at tinyurl.com/2y6pqtcf, passcode 2030.
- Please let Lisa Marchal ([email protected]) or Ken Patterson ([email protected]) know if you have questions.
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Get meetings with your members of Congress
About one month left in the First 100 Days Campaign! Book meetings with your representatives and senators now so that we can reinforce our appropriations requests and sign-on letters. We’ve got appropriations memos and companion laser talks on global nutrition, tuberculosis, and education to assist you. You can also find the FY22 appropriations sign-on letters (and track our progress on them) on our blog.
To help you get your meetings scheduled and to help you make your requests, use our draft meeting request letter, meeting request laser talk, and campaign request sheets available on our Lobbying support page. You can also engage your Action Network to support your requests by having them write to your members of Congress using our online action. Our goal is to meet with 100 percent of the Senate and 75 percent of the House. So far, we’ve reached 59 percent of the Senate and 26 percent of the House. Let’s keep going!
TAKE ACTION: Book meetings with your legislators as soon as possible so you can reinforce your appropriations and sign-on letter requests. You can ask your Action Network to reach out with appropriations requests as well. And remember to attend this Saturday’s (April 3) national webinar at 1:00 pm ET! Register today. (Registrations will be checked up to an hour prior to the webinar.)
The Deadly Duo: TB and COVID-19. “Tuberculosis causes more deaths than any other infectious disease in the world. TB and COVID-19 make a deadly combination and pose additional challenges as TB and COVID-19 both affect the lungs.” Read more on this topic on the ACTION Partnership blog.
Appropriations terms guide. Have you ever wanted to demystify and define some of the jargon that goes with the appropriations process in Congress? We have a “cheat sheet”!
U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Use media to push for a strong recovery bill
Got Ten Minutes? Urge you members of Congress to sign on to housing letter; join Saturday’s webinar to discuss housing with Diane Yentel
The next few months offers a tremendous opportunity to significantly cut child poverty and address the housing crisis in the U.S. With Congress and the President planning new economic recovery legislation, we must push them to include key tax and housing provisions in their plan.
Tomorrow, President Biden will unveil more details about his “Build Back Better” plan. This plan must include a comprehensive approach to the housing crisis. With only one in four eligible renters able to access federal housing assistance, Congress and the President must bridge that gap by scaling up rental assistance for all those who qualify. They can do that making housing choice vouchers universal (along with including renter protections, eviction preventions, and creating more affordable units to rent or buy).
Members in the House and Senate are circulating a joint sign-on letter to the Administration calling for a bold housing plan as part of the recovery bill. Help ensure that Congress and the President understand the importance of making housing affordable for all by urging your representatives and senators sign on to the letter. The priority deadline for this letter is close of business TODAY, March 30, but senators and representatives may be able to sign on through the remainder of this week.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to e-mail your members of Congress urging them to weigh in with Congressional leadership and the Administration in support of universal affordable housing and tell them to sign on to the congressional housing letter. Use our online e-mail alert to send your message today (instructions for signing onto the letter are in the e-mail). View this spreadsheet to see an ongoing tally of signers.
Also, register for the RESULTS National Webinar this Saturday, April 3 at 1:00 pm ET. Our U.S. Poverty guest will be Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. She will discuss NLIHC’s new HoUSed Campaign and share how advocates can push lawmakers to address America’s housing crisis in economic recovery legislation. Register for the webinar today.
Got Twenty Minutes? Finish First 100 Days with powerful lobby meetings
We are coming up on the final month of our First 100 Days Campaign. With 200 meetings completed, you have made it clear once again that RESULTS volunteers get things done. The recent victories on rent relief and expansions of the EITC and CTC are due in part to your relentless advocacy. We now have the chance to make the largest gains in reducing poverty in a generation, through expansions of housing assistance and the EITC/CTC. But it won’t happen by itself. Meeting with offices you’ve yet to talk to and circling back to those you have, let’s finish this campaign even stronger than you started it.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to meet with congressional offices about prioritizing housing and tax policies in new recovery legislation. Both the House and Senate are on recess the next two weeks! Get to those members you have yet to meet with, and circle back to offices you met with earlier this year to urge action on these new requests. We have many resources to help you, including an updated March U.S. Poverty Action, an updated lobby meeting request, new laser talks, and updated housing and tax lobby leave behinds. Once you get a meeting set, please contact Jos Linn or Meredith Dodson for help getting ready. After your meeting, please let us know what happened in our Lobby Report Form.
QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY
CDC eviction moratorium extended. Yesterday, the CDC extended the national eviction moratorium through the end of June, 2021. RESULTS is pleased that renters will have more time to get caught up on rent but is disappointed the CDC did not take steps to strengthen the moratorium to better protect renters.
Appeal of SNAP restrictions withdrawn. Last week, the Trump Administration’s new SNAP work-requirement rule for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) effectively died when the Biden Administration withdrew the government’s appeal of a decision vacating the new rule. ABAWDs who are not working may only receive SNAP benefits for three months out of every three years, but states can get waivers to allow these people to receive benefits during times of high unemployment (like now). The new rule would have made it harder for states to get waivers, thus denying many Americans access to food assistance when they need it most. RESULTS had opposed the new rule, among many, and applauds the Administration’s decision.
RESULTS supports estate tax reform. RESULTS has joined over 50 organizations in support of the For the 99.5% Act to reform the estate tax. The estate tax is America’s most progressive tax, taxing only multi-million-dollar estates. In the last 15 years, it has been cut dramatically so that now only the top 0.14 percent of estates are taxed (joint estates worth more than $23.5 million). The act would lower the exemption level to $7 million (the 2009 level) and implement a growing progressive tax rate depending on the size of the estate. This change would raise $430 billion over ten years. Considering that “intra-generational transfers account for fully half of total wealth in the United States, as well as ‘more of the racial wealth gap than any other demographic and socioeconomic indicators including education, income and household structure,’” this change would be an excellent start at reducing the racial wealth divide.
Register for April Monthly Policy Forum. Join us on Thursday, April 15 at 8:00 pm ET for our next U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum. Stay tuned for details. Register today (you must register each month to attend).
RESULTS Announcements
Anti-oppression and equity survey. Please participate in RESULTS anti-oppression and equity survey. The purpose of this survey is to collect your feedback on existing anti-oppression efforts in practice within RESULTS. Your input will contribute to identifying areas of growth in our anti-oppression work and contribute to the improvement of your work environment or volunteer capacity. The survey is only open for two weeks, closing on April 13. Click here to take the survey today.
Join Action Network training tomorrow. Are you wanting to understand what an Action Network is? Are you interested is building an Action Network? If so, this is the training for you. On Wednesday, March 31, we’ll hold How to Build Your Action Network 101, 8:30 pm ET. Register today!
National Webinar returns to 90-minute format. This Saturday’s RESULTS National Webinar will use the 90-minute format with our U.S. Poverty section from 1:00-1:30 pm ET, our Grassroots Actions and Celebrations section from 1:30-2:00 pm ET, and our Global Poverty section from 2:00-2:30 pm ET. Register to attend today.
Supporting the AAPI Communities. In line with our RESULTS Values, we denounce the racism and violence directed toward AAPI friends, family, neighbors, and communities. If you’re wondering how you can be supportive, RESULTS staff have put together these great resources and list of leading organizations for combatting racism against AAPI communities. Let’s learn, speak out, and support.
Monday, April 5: First 100 Days Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Bring your policy questions for lobbying as well as questions on your appropriations request forms. Join at tinyurl.com/2y6pqtcf, passcode 2030.
Register for the RESULTS 2021 International Conference! The 2021 RESULTS International Conference will be held June 12-13, 2021. Come learn from expert presenters, staff trainers, and each other as we prepare for a powerful Advocacy Week with congressional offices the following week. Don’t miss our biggest event of the year. Register today! You must register by May 1 to participate in Advocacy Week.
Learn how to develop and deepen relationships with Congress. Join us on Tuesday, April 6 at 8:30 pm ET. The First 100 Days Campaign has empowered us to meet with our members of Congress and their staff, perhaps for the first time. We’ll look at all the key relationships one can make with offices and techniques for relationship building, including engaging others in our community. Register today.
Learn to write powerful letters to the editor. Join us Tuesday, April 13 at 8:30 pm ET to learn the tools to write a powerful letter to the editor on the issues you care about and get it published. Bring your pad and paper and let’s write! Register today.
Join Champion Scale training with Sam Daley-Harris. RESULTS founder Sam Daley-Harris will energize us with his interactive workshop “The RESULTS Champion Scale: Creating Congressional Leadership” on moving our members of Congress up the Champion Scale. The webinar is Wednesday, April 21 at 8:30 pm ET. Register today.
RESULTS is hiring. RESULTS is seeking highly motivated individuals to fill various positions on our team. If you are interested, please check out the job postings online.
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.
The RESULTS tried-and-true model. Take a deeper dive into what the data bears out: our approach to advocacy works!
Upcoming Events
Congressional schedule. The House and Senate are on recess this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.
Wednesday, March 31: How to Build Your Action Network 101, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends an hour prior to the webinar.
Saturday, April 3: National Grassroots Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register today. Registrations will be checked up to an hour prior to the webinar.
Monday, April 5: First 100 Days Office Hour, 4:00 pm ET. Bring your policy questions for lobbying as well as questions on your appropriations request forms. Join at tinyurl.com/2y6pqtcf, passcode 2030.
Tuesday, April 6: How to Develop and Deepen Relationships with Congress, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Tuesday, April 13: Writing a Powerful Letter to the Editor, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to webinar.
Wednesday, April 14: Action Network Webinar, 8:30 pm ET. Details TBD.
Thursday, April 15. U.S. Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Thursday, April 15. Global Poverty Monthly Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Focus: Nutrition. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Wednesday, April 21: The RESULTS Champion Scale: Creating Congressional Leadership, 8:30 pm ET. Led by RESULTS founder Sam Daley Harris. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.
Saturday June 12 and Sunday, June 13: 2021 RESULTS International Conference. Registration is open. Please register by May 1 to participate in Advocacy Week following the conference.
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.
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.