RESULTS Weekly Update March 14, 2023

Quote of the Week

“As Congress begins to shape the FY24 budget they need to consider continuing our smart investments in global health and development.”

– RESULTS Asheville (NC) volunteer Howard Berkowitz volunteer in a March 5 letter to the editor the Asheville Citizen-Times

Table of Contents

• Appropriations push in the House!
• President’s budget has good news on the EITC and CTC
• Join Thursday’s U.S. and Global Policy Forums
• Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty
• Announcements
• Upcoming Events
• Grassroots Resources

Appropriations push in the House!

Deadlines for global poverty appropriations requests are imminent, particularly in the House. Take action this week if you haven’t already! Funding requests and Dear Colleague letters are two key tools for influencing the funding of crucial global poverty initiatives through the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) appropriations process. All members of Congress can weigh in on global poverty appropriations by championing the funding requests we bring them and by signing on to new Dear Colleague letters which underscore these requests. But our window of opportunity to act is closing, particularly in the House. Regardless of when your Set the Agenda campaign meetings are with the House and Senate, submit your appropriations funding requests and Dear Colleague letter requests now. Then follow up during your meetings.

TAKE ACTION: Work with your group now to share our global poverty appropriations funding requests and Dear Colleague letters with Congress.

1. Use our resources to submit our global poverty appropriations requests to your legislators, particularly in the House. Our January and February Global Poverty Policy Forums will make the process clear. You will also find guides on our website which will help you in filling out the necessary appropriations request forms.
2. Once you and your group have submitted your appropriations requests to your members of Congress and have asked them to weigh in, you can ask your legislators to sign Dear Colleague letters. Many letters are available for signature, with more expected. But these letters often have quick turnaround. Check out our blog to see which Dear Colleague letters are available, when the signing deadlines are, how to sign, and who has signed so far.
3. Enlist others to amplify your work. You can encourage other advocates in your circle to support your advocacy by writing Congress about our global appropriations priorities. Send advocates this quick action alert aimed at Congress. Or use our March Action Sheet as the agenda for a local RESULTS meeting.

President’s budget has good news on the EITC and CTC

Last week, President Biden released his FY24 budget plan and it calls on Congress to bring fairness to the tax code. Part of this agenda includes issues important to making progress on RESULTS’s goal of achieving economic justice through a fairer tax code.

First, he urges lawmakers to bring back the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC). In 2021, the expanded CTC gave families with low incomes a financial breather and helped cut child poverty by 46 percent. Frustratingly, Congress did not extend it past one year. The President’s budget would bring the full 2021 CTC back through 2025, while also making full refundability permanent (i.e. families with little or no income would receive the full credit on a monthly basis). He also urges Congress to make the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for workers not raising children permanent.

This is encouraging news and helpful in our effort to Set the Agenda for the new Congress. In lobby meetings, you can use the President’s budget strategically. For Democratic offices, you can use the President’s budget to remind them to be bold in any tax negotiations with those across the aisle. For Republicans, while the likelihood of Congress passing his exact proposal is low (and he knows this), leaders on both sides of the aisle are interested in making meaningful changes to the CTC that help American families.

The President is all in on the CTC and EITC. So is RESULTS. Let’s use this opportunity to get something worthwhile done for American families.

TAKE ACTION: Use the release of the President’s FY2024 budget to redouble your efforts to get in front of lawmakers this month and influence them on tax policy.

1. Keep requesting lobby meetings to talk about the CTC (and urge them to follow the President’s lead on the EITC too). Use our Set the Agenda and Lobbying pages for materials to schedule and prepare for your lobby meetings. Ask for face-to-face meetings with lawmakers; the House will be on March 11-21 and both the House and Senate will be on recess April 1-16. Also, remember to also discuss how we can use the tax code to help reduce homelessness by enacting a Renter Tax Credit (RTC). Please contact RESULTS staff to help with preparing your for your meetings.
2. Also, use the President’s budget as a hook for letters to the editor calling on Congress to expand the CTC and enact an RTC. Use our online media alert to send your letters today.

Join Thursday’s U.S. and Global Policy Forums

Join us in March for our U.S. and Global Poverty Policy Forums. On the U.S. Forum, we will discuss how greater equity in the tax code can benefit children with Barbara Duffield, Executive Director of SchoolHouse Connection. On the Global Forum, with World TB Day on March 24, come hear an overview of our tuberculosis campaign and the opportunities we have to effect meaningful change this year. Join us for one or both of these important webinars.

TAKE ACTION: Join our U.S. and Global Policy Forums this Thursday, February 16. You must register for each forum to attend. Register for the U.S. Forum at 8:00 pm ET and the Global Forum at 9:00 pm ET today.

Quick News on U.S. and Global Poverty

Co-sponsors for the READ Act and the End TB Now Act needed! The READ Act (global education) Reauthorization Act has been reintroduced in Congress (S.41, H.R.681), and the End Tuberculosis Now Act (S.288) has been reintroduced in the Senate. Ask your legislators to co-sponsor today.

More on tax policy and housing. The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “Tax Policy’s Role in Increasing Affordable Housing Supply for Working Families” on Tuesday, March 7. If your member is in this important committee, check out what they had to say about housing in the context of the tax code and see what opportunities you have to work with them on our U.S. poverty policy priorities. Most of the commentary focused on the supply-side, i.e., on the benefits that are provided to the suppliers of housing (developers and builders) to reduce their cost of production, underscoring the importance of what RESULTS’ economic justice campaign is doing in bringing the direct interests of renters (the demand side) to the table.

Senate meeting shows opportunity for Renter Tax Credit. On March 9, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Subcommittee  discussed  “housing first” solutions with supportive services, especially for youth, families, rural populations, and Indigenous people/s experiencing homelessness. However, witnesses testified in favor of upstream solutions to prevent people losing their homes in the first place. A federal Renter Tax Credit would do just that.

Learning tool from the archive. Maybe you have started meeting with your members of Congress this year but are already wondering how to deepen the relationships and move your legislators into leadership on our issues. If so, then we have the webinar for you! In our Training Resources archive, RESULTS founder Sam Daley-Harris leads us through a dynamic training on how to utilize the RESULTS Champion Scale. Take a look!

Media hooks for the week. Use the hook ideas below to submit a letter to the editor this week. If you need a template, use our online media actions to edit and submit your letter today.

• U.S. Poverty: As noted above, use stories about the President’s new budget as a hook for letters on expanding the Child Tax Credit and enacting a new Renter Tax Credit.
• Global Poverty: Now is the perfect time to write and submit a World TB Day letter to the editor. March 24 is World TB Day, and readers (and legislators) must hear a clarion call to support the fight to end this infectious disease of poverty. The Stop TB Partnership has resources you can use.

Announcements

March resources available. We have new resources for March available to you. Our March Outreach Action sheets are now available. They are great for letter-writing meetings. Also, if you missed the March National Webinar, it is worth a listen. The guest speakers were fabulous, and many enjoyed the laser talk trainings. Find the recordings and slides on our National Webinars page.

Invite new people to the April National Webinar. At RESULTS, we value the experiences of those with lived experience of poverty and seek to center their expertise in everything we do. Whether you’re a current advocate, new advocate, or just wanting to know more, the April National Webinar will be a great opportunity to learn about RESULTS values and how we engage volunteers with lived experience of poverty. You’ll hear about the barriers these individuals face when trying to engage in advocacy, and learn how RESULTS groups can create more inclusive, welcoming environments. Join members of the Experts on Poverty cohort and explore how we can work better together. This webinar is a great opportunity to welcome new people to our movement. Invite them to register today!

Expert on Poverty featured on podcast. On March 15, RESULTS Expert on Poverty Clara Moore will be featured on the Invisible Americans podcast. Find it here soon!

Attend New Advocate Orientation tomorrow. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about RESULTS and how to get involved, join our New Advocate Orientation. Join RESULTS staff for an overview of who we are, what we do, and why we need you as an advocate for the end of poverty. The orientation is tomorrow, March 15 at 8:00 pm ET. Register today!

Special Global Allies program on new date. This month, the Global Allies program bringing Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) together with RESULTS will have its usual webinar on a new date and time. On March 22 at 8:30 pm ET, a special program titled How RPCV Advocacy will help Bring an End to Tuberculosis will be held in advance of World TB Day. The event will feature special guest speakers Virginia Nagy, Senior TB Program Manager of the Infectious Diseases Division at USAID and Kristi M. Mathis of We Are TB. RPCVs can register today.

Please complete your lobby meeting reports. As you continue to meet with your members of Congress over the next month, please be sure to complete our updated Lobby Report Form after each meeting. These reports help us better understand where lawmakers stand on the issues and help us strategize next steps to build support for our policy requests. If you need help completing the form, please contact us.

RESULTS website accessibility. It is important to us that all the great information on the RESULTS website be accessible to everyone. In the bottom right corner of every web page, there is an orange accessibility icon. Click on it to open our accessibility menu (you can also open it by pressing CTRL+U) and make any adjustments you need to improve your experience using the RESULTS website.

Upcoming Events

Congressional schedule. The Senate is in session this week.

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

Wednesday, March 15: Action Network Managers Webinar, 8:00 pm ET (just one offering this month). Join at https://results.zoom.us/j/91531456676. No registration required.

Wednesday, March 15: New Advocate Orientation, 8:00 pm ET. Register today.

Thursday, March 16: U.S. Poverty Policy Forum, 8:00 pm ET. Register today.

Thursday, March 16: Global Poverty Policy Forum, 9:00 pm ET. Register today.

Tuesday, March 21: U.S. Poverty Free Agents, 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm ET. Contact Jos Linn for information on how to join.

Tuesday, March 21: Together Women Rise partnership webinar with RESULTS, 8:30 pm ET. Learn more.

Wednesday, March 22: New Advocate Orientation, 12:00 pm ET. Register today.

Wednesday, March 22: Media Office Hour, 2:00 pm ET. Join via Zoom at https://results.zoom.us/j/93668005494 or (312) 626-6799, meeting ID 936 6800 5494. No registration required.

Wednesday, March 22: Global Allies Program for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, 8:30 pm ET. Register today.

Monday, March 27: Global Poverty Free Agents, 7:00 pm ET. Contact Lisa Marchal for information on how to join.

Friday, March 31: Anti-Oppression 201 Workshop – Structural Racism, 12:00 pm ET. It is recommended that registrants attend our Diversity & Inclusion 101 or have some significant background in anti-racism and implicit bias work before attending this 90-minute workshop. Read for more information and to register.

Saturday, April 1: Monthly National Webinar, 1:00 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 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.