RESULTS Weekly Update February 13, 2024

Quote of the Week

“When my grandmother was raising my cousins and me, she taught us to work hard and go after what we wanted. I didn’t know it at the time, but we were in poverty.”

– RESULTS Expert on Poverty Candace Baker in a January 31 op-ed in the Other Words

Table of Contents

• Schedule your lobby meetings now, especially CTC meetings with Senate meetings on the CTC
• Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty
• Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

Schedule your lobby meetings now, especially Senate meetings on the CTC

As noted by RESULTS Executive Director in a recent blog post:

As we enter 2024, we face both unprecedented challenges and crucial opportunities. RESULTS’ community of change is already taking action to surmount the former and take advantage of the latter.

That’s why we have launched the Community of Change campaign. Your outreach to members of Congress and members of your community will grow the movement for equity and justice. The first step in this campaign was setting goals for the year. You did that in January by completing your 2024 Group Roadmaps. The next step is to take our message directly to members of Congress.

From February through April, we want to meet with every congressional office RESULTS covers. That’s 346 meetings over the next three months. These meetings will help make the case for enacting policies that will reduce poverty. If we are to make inroads on reducing child poverty, improving child and maternal health, expanding access to healthy nutrition, and fighting global disease, members of Congress need to hear from you.

The Senate is on recess this week and next, and the House will be on recess next week. Try to schedule meetings while they are home. Senate lobby meetings now could make the difference in getting a Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion passed this year. There is still no plan for bringing the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act to the Senate floor. We need to pressure senators to support the bill, oppose harmful changes to it, and bring it to the floor quickly. If you are able, please request lobby meetings with Senate offices now to meet with them during the recess.

TAKE ACTION: Work with your local RESULTS group to begin requesting lobby meetings with your members of Congress. Use our 2024 lobby meeting request letter to request your meeting today. Be sure to request face-to-face meetings with legislators first and then meet with staff if they are not available. Once you book a lobby prep meeting via RESULTS staff member Katie Fleischer. Additional support materials for your meetings are available on our 2024 Community of Change campaign page.

Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty

Use media to push the CTC. In addition to scheduling Senate lobby meetings, use the media as well to pressure senators to support the new Child Tax Credit expansion. Submit letters to the editor on the CTC today asking your senators by name to pass the new CTC expansion as soon as they return to DC.

Are you sharing your media with congressional offices? After a great year with 589 published media pieces, we have a bolder goal for 2024. 700 published media pieces by the end of the year. If we want this Congress and the next one to take poverty seriously, we’re going to need that to break through all the political noise in this election year. You can start now by making sure you share your published media with congressional offices (that’s especially true right now with media about the Child Tax Credit). If you get something published, please promptly send it to the relevant tax aides in your House and Senate offices. You can find a list of reported media here and copies of all our published media in our Grassroots Media Packets.

Watch the February webinar recording with Rep. Jim McGovern. As we focus on meeting with members of Congress over the next few months, take time to listen to the February National Webinar. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA-2), always a charismatic guest, highlighted the challenges nutrition advocates face this year and what we can do about them. His appearance also reminds us of the importance of building champions in Congress on the issues we care about. Check it out!

Announcements

Register for next week’s Policy Forums. On Thursday, February 22, join us for two helpful forums that will enhance your understanding of our U.S. nutrition work and our global appropriations work, respectively. For the U.S. Poverty Policy Forum at 8:00 pm ET (register here), our focus will be nutrition programs. Whether it’s the Farm Bill or annual appropriations, we must be prepared to ensure that SNAP and WIC are fully funded. Join us as we discuss the history and importance of these nutrition programs and how you help protect and expand them. For the Global Poverty Policy Forum at 9:00 pm ET (register here), we’ll be covering appropriations. What are appropriations? And how can we strategically advocate Congress to influence funding for our global poverty priorities? Join the webinar to get answers to these and other questions about the “approps” process.

Please complete your 2024 Roadmaps by February 15. Thank you to all the RESULTS volunteers who have met this month to work on your 2024 Group Roadmaps. If you have not met yet or completed your 2024 Roadmap, please schedule a time for your group to meet and complete your Roadmap by February 15. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact RESULTS staff for help. Find 2024 planning materials on the Working with Your Group page under “Make your group plans”. Thank you for completing this important part of your advocacy work.

Join Thursday’s Researching Your Member(s) of Congress webinar. To have effective lobby meetings, you need to know a bit about your member(s) of Congress. In this 90-minute webinar, RESULTS Regional Coordinator Allison Gallaher shares tips and tools on how to research your legislators. Learn how to find what they care about, how they plan to lead, and how to connect with them on our issues. The webinar is this Thursday, February 15 at 8:30 pm ET. Register today.

Join Lobby 101 training next week. Join this webinar to learn the basics of lobbying and skills for how to speak powerfully during your meeting. This training will cover the core components of a lobby meeting, how to build an agenda, roles, and review how to write an EPIC laser talk. This webinar is for new RESULTS volunteers and current volunteers who would like a refresher on the basics of lobbying. Please share this invitation widely with your networks! The webinar is Wednesday, February 21 at 8:00 pm. Register today.

Group Leader Training starts February 21. Are you a current (or even aspiring) RESULTS Group Leader? You are welcome to register for this four-part learning series beginning Wednesday, February 21! These interactive sessions will get you in touch with fellow Group Leaders, offer encouraging information about leadership itself, give you practical tools for leading your RESULTS group, and provide some fun along the way. Each session will last two hours (8-10 pm ET). We hope you can attend all four sessions. Can’t attend live? Register and the recordings will be sent to you. Questions? Contact Lisa Marchal.

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule: This week, the House is in session and the Senate is on recess.

Typically, registration ends one hour prior to the start of all webinars and trainings.

Thursday, February 15: Researching Your Member(s) of Congress, 8:30 pm ET. Register for this 90-minute learning opportunity.

Monday, February 19: Presidents’ Day. All RESULTS offices closed.

Tuesday, February 20: U.S. Poverty Free Agents, 1:00 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET. Contact Jos Linn for more information.

Tuesday, February 20: Together Women Rise advocacy chapter webinar, 8:30 pm ET. Learn more about this opportunity.

Wednesday, February 21: Action Network Manager Calls, 12:30 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET. 12:30 pm ET: Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/93412877476 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID 934 1287 7476. 8:00 pm ET: Join via https://results.zoom.us/j/98134593550 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID 981 3459 3550.

Wednesday, February 21: Media Office Hour, 2:00 pm ET. Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/93668005494 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID 936 6800 5494.

Wednesday, February 21: Group Leader Training, 8:00 pm ET. Register today for this 4-part series.

Wednesday, February 21: Lobby 101 Training, 8:00 pm ET. Register and join this informative session.

Thursday, February 22: U.S. Poverty Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Register to join.

Thursday, February 22: Global Poverty Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Register today.

Monday, February 26: Global Poverty Free Agents, 7:00 pm ET. Contact Lisa Marchal for more information.

Saturday, March 2: National Webinar, 1:00 pm ET. Register for the webinar today.

Wednesday, March 6: New Advocate Orientation, 8:30 pm ET. Register and join.

Wednesday, March 13: Motivational Interviewing 101, 8:00 pm ET. Register today.

Grassroots Resources

Learn about the RESULTS Experts on Poverty.

Find actions and volunteer resources on our Volunteers Hub, including our anti-oppression resources. To join the RESULTS listserv for more RESULTS conversation, send an email to [email protected].

Remember to please report your recent advocacy successes in lobby meetings, media, and outreach activities. Also, use our Volunteer Information Form to add or edit volunteer info and to sign up for updates and alerts.

If you have a story about advocacy you feel could inspire others, use our new online form to tell us your story. Also, if you want to celebrate the actions of a new volunteer, sharing about the experience today.

If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for the RESULTS/REF Board, please e-mail [email protected]. View Board minutes and Annual Reports.

RESULTS Staff directory and job postings.