RESULTS Weekly Update August 10, 2021

Quote of the Week

“Our tax dollars helped developed the vaccine and we need to create the political will to help vaccinate the world.”

–  RESULTS Tacoma, WA volunteer Andy Clarke in an August 10 letter to the editor in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Table of Contents

• Latest on our housing and tax work
• Global vaccine access work
• Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty
• RESULTS Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

Senate moves forward on infrastructure and budget resolution

This morning, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package by a strong bipartisan vote of 69-30. The bill will focus investments on repairing roads and highways, upgrading bridges and ports, fixing water pipes, and expanding access to broadband internet, among other things. The House will address the bill when it returns from recess next month.

With the bill passed, Senate Democrats are quickly pivoting to passing a new budget resolution, which will pave the way for a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. Because of your advocacy pushing Congress to expand Housing Choice Vouchers and to make the new Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit provisions permanent, we do expect the budget resolution to include instructions to the Senate Banking and Senate Finance Committees to draft provisions addressing housing and the tax credits (those and other provisions will all be combined into one large reconciliation bill and voted on in the fall).

This is encouraging news, but the outcome is far from certain. Will the housing committees include money for Housing Choice Vouchers? Will the tax committees make the EITC and CTC provisions permanent or just extend them? We don’t know. In addition, the Senate must consider a number of amendments to the budget resolution this week that, if passed, could restrict provisions we are seeking (e.g., making the CTC only available to families that have income/are U.S. citizens or restricting immigrants’ access to housing benefits). RESULTS is working with other advocates to keep these harmful amendments off the table and will keep you posted on any developments.

Assuming the Senate budget resolution passes this week, the Senate will join the House on recess until after Labor Day. When the House and Senate return, they will resume work on the reconciliation package. However, we do expect leaders of the relevant committees to begin drafting legislative language immediately so they can hit the ground running in September (for RESULTS, Senate Banking/House Financial Services for housing; Senate Finance/House Ways and Means for tax credits).

TAKE ACTION: We hope that you, our volunteers, are still taking time to rest this month. RESULTS is not pushing any actions right now, but if you’d like to do something this month, the actions below can help influence negotiations behind the scenes on the new reconciliation package. Use the August 2021 U.S. Poverty Action for guidance and talking points for these actions:

1. Attend a virtual congressional town hall and ask a question. Town halls are a great way to ask lawmakers to publicly commit to supporting expanding Housing Choice Vouchers and the EITC/CTC.
2. Submit a letter to the editor. Use local media to the attention of your members of Congress, urging the support our housing and tax policies. The August U.S. Poverty Action has Laser Talks to use a template for letters to the editor (you can also send LTEs directly from our website) .
3. Write letters to your members of Congress. Use the Laser Talks again to draft a letter to your members of Congress about housing and/or the EITC/CTC.

If you have questions, please contact Jos Linn for assistance.

Latest on global vaccine access

This August, RESULTS groups are encouraged to take moments to pause and reflect on the incredible work done so far this year. However, even as we encourage our advocates to recharge this month, you may wish to take an action or two. You have options!

Everyone deserves to have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, no matter where they live. The United States must lead a global effort to bring together industry, governments, and global health institutions to urgently increase the supply and distribution of vaccines. 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.

TAKE ACTION: Use our media action alert or our current Global Poverty Action Sheet to contact your local paper about global vaccine access. Utilize a different action alert to write or call President Biden (or even tweet!). Finally, check to see if your representative signed onto a vital global vaccine access letter that recently circulated. This letter was led by Reps. Krishamoorthi (D-IL-8), Malinowski (D-NJ-7), and Jayapal (D-WA-7) as well as Sens. Merkley (D-OR), Warren (D-MA), and Markey (D-MA) and pushed for COVID-19 vaccine production and global distribution. Remarkably, 115 signers were on the letter. Bravo! If your legislator signed, thank them!

Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty

New eviction moratorium implemented. Less than three days after the CDC’s national eviction moratorium expired on July 31, the CDC issued a new moratorium on August 3. It applies to areas with substantial and high rates of COVID-19 infections (which is most of the U.S.) and lasts until October 3. For more on the moratorium and what’s next, read Michael Santos’ updated RESULTS Blog post.

Resources for your global vaccine access media. Looking for more facts and rationale to underpin your global vaccine access media? Check out our recent blog post which highlights the global vaccine access conversation we had with Rob Weissman, president of Public Citizen, during the July National Webinar. Then listen to Liz Jaff of Be a Hero as she interprets key data from Data for Progress that will help empower and enhance our advocacy messaging around global vaccine access, specifically with regard to COVID-19 vaccines.

Global education financing summit update. Despite hard work and bipartisan congressional leadership calling for a $1 billion five-year pledge, a pledge of only $305 million over three years was made by the Biden administration at the late-July Global Partnership for Education financing summit. Take a look at our press release on the summit. You can also read more details from our executive director, Joanne Carter. You’ll get a sense of what happened as well as next steps, for there will be more advocacy to come!

Announcements

Join quarterly town hall with Grassroots Board members this Thursday. Join this quarterly town hall to ask questions of the RESULTS Grassroots Board members, the volunteers who represent you to the RESULTS Board and leadership. Join at https://tinyurl.com/QuarterlyGR at 9:00 pm ET this Thursday, August 12. You can also dial in to (929) 436-2866, meeting ID 96338593060, passcode 1980. Contact Lindsay Saunders with questions.

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. Have you ever considered becoming a Regional Coordinator? Do you know someone you could encourage to consider the role because you recognize their leadership potential? If you (or others) are interested in the application process for becoming a Regional Coordinator with RESULTS, or are simply interested in learning more about the role, please contact Lisa Marchal.

Join new training on building an equitable tax code. Join our friends at NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby, for a new virtual workshop “Tax Justice for All: Unveiling the Racial Inequity of the U.S. Tax Code.” This two-hour training (co-sponsored by RESULTS) will look at how the tax code currently disadvantages women and people of color, and invites you to reimagine a new tax code to build a just and inclusive society. The training will be offered several times in August and September. The next opportunities are Wednesday, August 11, 3:00 pm ET (register here for August 11) and Monday, August 16 at 12:00 pm ET (register here for August 16).

Upcoming training on hybrid meetings. With some people wanting to meet in person and others not feeling comfortable meeting in person due to COVID-19, we need to get creative and make sure we are inclusive. Hybrid meetings, which are conducted both in-person and virtually, may be our best answer in the coming months. Join us for some insights and tips on Wednesday, September 1 at 8:30 pm ET. Register here.

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule. The Senate is in session this week. The House is on recess this week. Submit your remote meeting requests today.

Wednesday, August 11: Tax Justice for All: Unveiling the Racial Inequity of the U.S. Tax Code, 3:00 pm ET. Presented by NETWORK. Register here.

Thursday, August 12: Quarterly Call-in with Grassroots Board Members, 9:00 pm ET. Join at https://tinyurl.com/QuarterlyGR or (929) 436-2866, meeting ID 96338593060, passcode 1980. Contact Lindsay Saunders with questions.

Monday, August 16: Tax Justice for All: Unveiling the Racial Inequity of the U.S. Tax Code, 12:00 pm ET. Presented by NETWORK. Register here.

Tuesday, August 17: U.S. Poverty Free Agents, 8:00 pm ET. If you are interested in joining our U.S. Poverty Free Agents, contact Jos Linn for more information.

Wednesday, August 18: RESULTS Action Network Webinar, 12:30 pm ET (register here) and 8:00 pm ET (register here). Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Wednesday, September 1: How to Run Hybrid Meetings, 8:30 pm ET. Register today. Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Saturday, September 11: RESULTS National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register today.  Registration ends one hour prior to the webinar.

Note: There are no monthly policy forums and no Global Poverty Free Agents meeting in August.

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.