RESULTS Campaigns Weekly Update September 15, 2020
Quote of the Week
“I call on Rep. Himes and Sens. Murphy and Blumenthal to break the stalemate in D.C. and pass an emergency response package that addresses the urgent needs of the poorest children, both here and around the world.”
– RESULTS Coastal Connecticut volunteer Nancy Gardiner in an September 10 letter to the editor in the Stamford Advocate
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 prioritizing global health and education during the COVID-19 crisis
Got Fifteen Minutes? Participate in a National Call-In on a COVID-19 relief package
Congress still hasn’t passed a strong COVID-19 relief package, and time is running out. But it’s not too late for you to raise your voice. Watch for an action alert tomorrow; you can take part in a national coalition call-in compelling Congress to pass COVID-19 relief that supports SNAP, housing, and global health.
You can say something like this: I am a constituent and volunteer with RESULTS. With millions unemployed here at home and millions struggling with the effects of COVID-19 abroad, families need help, and they need it now. If Congress and the White House fail to agree on a strong COVID relief package, they will leave millions to face this crisis alone. I urge Sen./Rep. _____________ to tell congressional leadership and the Trump Administration to quickly agree to a large-scale COVID-19 relief package that includes $100 billion in emergency rental assistance to help people pay rent, a 15 percent increase in the maximum SNAP benefit to help families put food on the table, and no less than $20 billion to help fight coronavirus and protect access to healthcare in low-income countries. Will you give him/her that message? Thank you for your time.
TAKE ACTION: Watch for an action alert giving guidance toward making a call to Congress about the passage of a COVID-19 emergency response. Add your voice to the chorus during the national call-in.
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Get published on a necessary emergency response package
We are still waiting for congressional and White House negotiators to reach an agreement on a COVID-19 relief package. The wait has been frustrating, but you have not been passive. Thank you again for your steady wave of meetings, calls, emails, and media.
As we seek a relief package that will truly help people, a great tactic continues to be media. You have been doing wonders with this; keep it up! Thanks to your work, you have been amassing an incredible number of media pieces that create the positive pressure we need for a deal to get done.
We are still asking for a global response of no less than $20 billion for development assistance in the next emergency response package, with a designation of $10 billion of that to be used as follows:
- $4 billion over two years for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
- $4 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
- $2 billion for anti-hunger programs, with at least $500 million for nutrition
TAKE ACTION: Development assistance of at least $20 billion must be part of a response to the global pandemic. Your letters do make a difference, so don’t hesitate to write and then send your published media to your legislators. Use our online action alert to write your letter to the editor on how Congress and the Administration must act now to mitigate the global health impacts of COVID-19. Then report it to us when you get published.
QUICK NEWS ON GLOBAL POVERTY
September Action Sheet. COVID-19 is having a devastating impact in low-income nations. The World Bank estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic could drive 100 million people into extreme poverty. The current generation of students is at risk of losing $10 trillion in earnings over time due to pandemic-related school closures. And according to the Stop TB Partnership, disruptions to health services could cause an additional 6.3 million cases of tuberculosis and an additional 1.4 million TB deaths between 2020 and 2025. Utilize our September Action Sheet to enlist others to write a letter to the editor, letting members of Congress know that a (minimum) $20 billion global emergency response package is what’s needed – and what leadership must work for – to face the COVID-19 crisis globally.
Blogpost on UNICEF Report. UNICEF and the UN Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) recently published a new report on child mortality estimates during 2019 and found that under-five mortality has decreased almost 60 percent since 1990. This progress is remarkable. But in 2019 over five million children still died before reaching their fifth birthday, many from preventable or treatable causes. Read more on our blog.
Hunger piece in the New York Times. Read about the threat of hunger as a vicious side effect of the COVID-19 crisis in a New York Times article titled “The Other Way Covid Will Kill: Hunger.”
U.S. Poverty Campaigns Update
QUICK ACTION Use media to push Congress to pass emergency rental assistance
Got Fifteen Minutes? Contact aides today and join National Call-In tomorrow on passing new COVID legislation
With each passing day, the tighter the window is for getting a new COVID bill passed before the election. There is a real chance that the White House and Senate Republicans will be content to recess Congress in October without providing any substantial relief to the tens of millions of Americans suffering in the current economic crisis.
But we can change that. Public pressure helped get rental and food assistance on the table before COVID negotiations fell apart last month. Public pressure helped convince the CDC to issue a national moratorium on evictions through the end of the year. And public pressure can still force Congress and the White House back to the bargaining table to hammer out a fair and just deal for robust COVID relief. But it must be now. Members of Congress are eager to get on the campaign trail, so if tenets of a deal are not reached in the next two weeks, the chances for a deal will drop.
TAKE ACTION: Take fifteen minutes to pressure your members of Congress into action by doing the following:
TODAY: Contact housing and agriculture aides in your House and Senate offices urging them to talk with their bosses urging support for a strong COVID relief bill NOW that includes $100 billion in emergency rental assistance and a 15 percent increase in the maximum SNAP benefit. Use this article about the impact of the pandemic on landlords to further illustrate the dire need for rental assistance. Coordinate this action with others within RESULTS to ensure each key Senate aide is contacted in the next 24 hours. If you need more background, see the September U.S. Poverty Action.
TOMORROW: Join in the National Call-in Day on COVID relief. Watch for an e-mail from RESULTS urging you to call your House and Senate offices to tell them to pass a COVID bill now that priorities housing, hunger, and the global response to pandemic. The e-mail and online alert include a script for you to use when you call. Be sure to call all your members of Congress and forward the alert to everyone you know urging them to call too.
Got Another Fifteen Minutes? Media pressure critical in COVID relief fight
In addition to direct action with your congressional offices, your media advocacy is vital right now as well. As our September webinar speaker Kali Daugherty told us last weekend, local agencies like hers are scrambling to keep up with the number of individuals and families needing housing and homelessness assistance. She reminded us that while the CDC eviction moratorium is a positive step forward, tenants who don’t know they must file a declaration with their landlord to be protected can still be evicted. Plus, landlords can still evict tenants for other reasons. Finally, Kali pointed out that 4,000 evictions were filed in Milwaukee the first filing day after their local eviction moratorium ended (before the CDC one went into effect). Without rental assistance to help tenants and landlords get caught up on rent, the same thing will happen when the CDC moratorium ends, but on a national scale.
Families struggling to keep up with rent and put food on the table cannot wait until after the election or next January for help. They need it now and Congress is failing them. Use the power of the media to remind members of Congress that before they leave to campaign to keep their jobs, they had better first do their jobs.
TAKE ACTION: Take fifteen minutes to generate more media calling on Congress and the President to pass a COVID-19 relief bill now. Use our updated housing LTE alert and online SNAP LTE alert to submit letters to the editor calling on Congress and the President by name to act now. When you get published, leverage your media by sending a copy of your letter to your congressional housing aides, sharing on social media, urging others to write, and sharing with RESULTS. See more tips in the September U.S. Poverty Action.
QUICK NEWS ON U.S. POVERTY
Join tax policy webinar tomorrow. Tax policy can help reduce inequality and provide services that help everyone thrive. Join the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) for a webinar with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and other experts to discuss the importance of tax equity in narrowing racial and economic inequities and advancing progressive policies. This free webinar is tomorrow, September 16 at 2:00 pm ET. Sign up today.
Help renters take advantage of moratorium. The new eviction moratorium does not automatically stop all evictions. In order to be protected, eligible renters must sign a declarative statement and send it to their landlord ASAP. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition has a new resource that explains the moratorium and draft declaration form renters can use. Please share this resource with people you know.
RESULTS Announcements
Join Census poverty data webinar tonight. The U.S. Census released data on hardship during the pandemic last week and national poverty data for 2019 today. Join RESULTS Director of U.S. Poverty Policy Meredith Dodson this evening, September 15, for an overview of all the data and how to use it in your advocacy at this important time. The webinar begins at 8:00 pm ET. Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/324294681 or dial by phone at (929) 436-2866 or (669) 900-6833, meeting ID 324 294 681.
Register for “Racial Equity and Housing Justice During and After COVID-19” with Ta-Nehisi Coates. NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and NLIHC will host a conversation on housing and racial equity after the pandemic with award winning journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates on October 6, at 1:00 pm ET. Register today for this live-stream event at: https://bit.ly/32yRqi6.
Visit coronavirus blog for updates. Read the RESULTS coronavirus blog for the latest updates and actions you can take.
Receive action alerts via text. We are setting up a system to send some of our action alerts via text. If you’d like to receive text action alerts, please text RESULTS to 50457 to sign up for text action alerts.
Upcoming Events
Congressional schedule. Members of Congress are in DC. Submit your remote meeting requests today.
Tuesday, September 15: U.S. Poverty Free Agents Webinars, 1:00 pm ET. Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/324294681 or dial by phone at (929) 436-2866 or (669) 900-6833, meeting ID 324 294 681.
Tuesday, September 15: Latest Household Pulse Survey Results and 2019 Poverty Data Overview, 8:00 pm ET. Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/324294681 or dial by phone at (929) 436-2866 or (669) 900-6833, meeting ID 324 294 681.
Monday, September 21: Global Poverty Free Agents Webinars, 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/464361707 or, by phone, (669) 900-6833 or (929) 436-2866, meeting ID 464361707.
Tuesday, September 23: New Advocate Orientation, 8:30 pm ET. Sign up online.
Tuesday, September 29: Presidential Debate, 9:00pm ET.
Saturday, October 3: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/994444828. You can also join by phone at (669) 900-6833 or (929) 436-2866, meeting ID 994 444 828. Please register for the webinar to receive the login password.
Wednesday, October 7: Vice Presidential Debate, 9:00 pm ET.
Tuesday, October 13: Putting The Righteous Mind into Practice webinar, 9:00 pm ET. Join the meeting using this link, meeting ID: 655 036 085, passcode: 641539.
Tuesday, October 15: Presidential Debate, 9:00pm ET.
Tuesday, October 22: Presidential Debate, 9:00pm ET.
Grassroots Resources
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