RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update May 25, 2021

Quote of the Week

“No single verdict or election can bring about the racial reckoning America needs after 400 years of building systems that have rested upon white supremacy. But the generation of young people who saw themselves in Trayvon Martin knows that whatever the color of their skin, their lives will not matter in this society until Black lives matter in our public policy.”

– Rev. William Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove a May 21 op-ed in the New York Times reflecting on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death

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 media on the Global Partnership for Education

We are well into 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. This is 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.

TAKE ACTION: Get published on the Global Partnership for Education! Can we get 100 media hits on GPE between now and July 1? Use our action sheet and companion action alert on this topic to help you along.

Got Another Twenty Minutes? Submit our Senate sign-on letters and appropriations requests

Don’t let up on Senate sign-on letters and appropriations requests for our global health and education priorities; you’ve been doing a terrific job.

Just a reminder that we have two Senate appropriations sign-on letters that are open for signatures with May 28 deadlines. One letter is on maternal/child health and nutrition and the second is on the Global Partnership for Education/basic education. Find all the letters – and check for signatures – on our regularly updated fiscal year 2022 (FY22) appropriations sign-on letter blogpost.

While you’re working on sign-on letters, keep going on Senate appropriations requests. The Senate State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of Appropriations (SFOPS) leadership needs to hear from other senators about their development assistance spending priorities for FY22 by June 29. For assistance, contact the Grassroots Impact staff. And after you make your requests, follow up!

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 have 26 cosponsors, and we 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 Minutes? Your media brings us closer to recovery successes

Decisions on what is included in a new economic recovery package could be finalized in a matter of weeks. Congress must include provisions to expand rental assistance and make the recent changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit permanent. These things won’t happen on their own. There will be pressure on Congress to make the package smaller and smaller, possibly squeezing out policies that would have a tremendous impact on poverty in America.

Generating media for these policies creates public pressure for lawmakers to act. When you ask them by name to expand rental assistance (housing), support low-income workers (EITC), or to cut child poverty in half (CTC), they pay attention. That kind of pressure can be the difference between these provisions making it into the bill and not. Here are stories and research you could use as hooks for letters this week:

• May 24: Congress Should Adopt American Families Plan’s Permanent Expansions of Child Tax Credit and EITC (CBPP)
• May 20: California gave people the ‘right’ to be homeless — but little help finding homes (Washington Post)
• May 20: When No Landlord Will Rent to You, Where Do You Go? (NY Times)
• May 19: Can monthly cash payments cut child poverty by nearly half? (AP)
• May 17: 88% of children covered by monthly payments starting in July (AP)
• May 16: Not planning to file taxes this year? Don’t lose out on the Earned Income, Child Tax credits (USA Today)

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to submit your own letters to the editor telling Congress to make expand rental assistance and make recent changes to the EITC and CTC permanent. Help us push Congress to act by generating 100 media pieces on the housing or EITC/CTC by July 1. The May U.S. Poverty Action has a template letters on housing and tax, as well as links to state data to personalize them. You can also send a housing letter or a tax credit letter directly from our website. Once published, please leverage your media by forwarding it to your members of Congress and please let us know you got published.

QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY

New research ties caregiving with housing. The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities (CBPP) posted a blog post last week on “Hardship Among Solo Caregivers Reveals Need for Rental Assistance, Other Supports,” calling for Congress to prioritize “more equitable supports for families with children, including a major expansion of rental assistance and in particular Housing Choice Vouchers.”

Lessening, But Persistent Hardship. The Census Household Pulse Survey released new data last week regarding the state of food and housing hardship among families in the United States. As noted by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the Census survey indicates that 1 in 9 households with children reported food insufficiency in the last 7 days. Of these families, 77 percent said they “couldn’t afford to buy food.”  Analysis also indicates that 1 in 7 renters are behind on their rent, with disproportionate levels of Black, Indigenous, and people of color accounting for this group. Unsurprisingly, disaggregating both sets of data demonstrates the deep racial inequities at the heart of inequity. In addition, the National Women’s Law Center recently released an analysis of March Census Pulse data showing women, especially women of color, are experiencing hardships at rates higher than men. However, all these values are lower than the pandemic highs witnessed in December 2020. For more information, see CBPP’s recently published analysis.

New resource for emergency rental assistance. The U.S. Department of Treasury issued rules to implement the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund established under the American Rescue Plan Act.

RESULTS Announcements

Schedule lobby prep for the RESULTS Conference. The 2021 RESULTS International Conference is coming up fast (June 12-13, virtually) with a fabulous agenda and new inspiring speakers added in the last week. We are actively getting you ready for lobby meetings during our Conference Advocacy Week (week of June 14). If you registered for the Conference prior to May 11, you should have received an e-mail asking you to schedule a time for lobby prep (if you registered after May 11 and want to lobby, please e-mail Dorothy Monza with your state/group ASAP). Please read the instructions and plan to attend the prep call once a date and time are confirmed. 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. And remember, it’s not too late to register for the Conference! Registration closes June 10.

Join Motivational Interviewing training tomorrow. Are you struggling to move your Member of Congress into action? Do they sometimes say one thing, but do another? Do you often find yourself butting heads with them or feeling frustrated by their inaction or resistance? Then join our “Motivational Interviewing” training, a collaborative communication style intended to help people build motivation for change and take action. Learn what drives motivation and basic motivational interviewing skills, and then practice using those skills through roleplays. This will be the first workshop in a series meant to help you build your skills over time. The webinar is Wednesday, May 26 at 8:00 pm ET and will go 90 minutes. Register for the webinar today.

Spring peer-to-peer fundraising extended. The Spring Peer-to-Peer Online Fundraising Campaign is happening now through May 31. Join with other advocates across the country to raise critical funds for the next phase of our work. Create your own fundraising page or donate to support this campaign  In recognition of RESULTS and RESULTS volunteers’ work around tuberculosis, a generous donor has offered to match the first $5,000 raised during the campaign! For more information or any questions, contact Mea Geizhals at [email protected] or (202) 783-4800 x131.

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. And this year, we have a special treat. We will also accept nominations of RESULTS volunteers who have shown excellence in advocating on poverty issues in the media. To nominate someone, 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. We will announce the winner this summer.

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule. The House and Senate are in DC this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.

Wednesday, May 26: Motivational Interviewing Skills for Policy Advocacy, 8:00 pm ET. Webinar will run 90 minutes. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Monday, May 31: Memorial Day holiday. All RESULTS offices closed.

Saturday, June 5: The RESULTS National Webinar has been canceled so groups can use that time to prepare for the RESULTS International Conference, June 12-13.

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 is open and will close 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.

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.