U.S. Poverty Weekly Update February 13, 2018

U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | February 13, 2018

“Our voices matter. We have this power in a democracy. Let's use it.”

– RESULTS Snohomish, WA volunteer Willie Dickerson January 30 letter to the editor in the Duluth News Tribune

Quick Media Action: Tell Congress to Reject Cuts to Anti-Poverty Programs

Got Two Minutes? Schedule Your First #LettersGetLOUD Meeting (and Your Face-to-Face Meetings) (February Action)

We are excited that our #LettersGetLOUD campaign has gotten off to a great start. Some groups have already begun meeting to write letters, record them, and are planning to hand-deliver them to members of Congress. Peruse the RESULTS Volunteers Facebook page to see some of the powerful letters people have written and recorded.

What are you doing to kick of #LettersGetLOUD in your community? Are you planning to start at your next RESULTS group meeting? Dedicate your next meeting to inviting new people (see more below) to join you in writing letters, reading and recording them, and then taking them to your next face-to-face lobby meeting. Remember, the power of your letters is not truly realized until it is hand-delivered to members of Congress. Therefore, in addition to planning #LettersGetLOUD for your next RESULTS meeting, make sure to request face-to-face meetings as soon as possible. Congress will be on recess all next week and then again at the end of March. Plan for them to see you and your fellow volunteers with a stack of letters when they come home.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to schedule or confirm your first #LettersGetLOUD meeting. Pick a date soon when you can meeting write, read, and plan to deliver your letters urging Congress to protect anti-poverty programs from harmful cuts and changes. Use the February Action and our #LettersGetLOUD for tips and resources to help you make the most of this opportunity. In addition, please contact each congressional office to request face-to-face meetings with your representative and both senators either during next week’s recess or the earliest you can get on their schedule. Use our online template to customize, print, and send your meeting requests today. Also check www.townhallproject.com for any town halls in your area you can attend. When you get a meeting or town hall, please contact Meredith Dodson ASAP for coaching.

Got Ten Minutes? Invite New People to your #LettersGetLOUD Meeting (February Action)

While we are hoping to generate a swarm of letters during the #LettersGetLOUD campaign, it is important to remember that these letters are a tool, not a goal. Our goal is to end poverty, starting with protect critical and effective anti-poverty programs such as Medicaid and SNAP. Your letters can help us get there. But we need people to write those letters. That includes a whole lot of RESULTS volunteers and a whole lot of new people too.

Fortunately, #LettersGetLOUD is the perfect vehicle find new people. Asking someone to come to a meeting to write letters is perfect entry point for someone new. It’s easy, people understand it, and can usually make time for it. That’s all you need. Get them in the room, get them taking action, get them sharing the experience (by reading their letters out loud), and you get them hooked. Invite them to come again to write more letters next month or better yet, invite them to come with you to hand-deliver their letters to members of Congress in your next lobby meeting.

We need them. The more people we have acting to end poverty, the sooner we’ll make it happen.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to make a list of the people you want to invite to your next #LettersGetLOUD meeting. Reach out to them and invite them to come. Share videos of you reading your letter and ask them to join you. The February Action has tips to help you. Once you have new people at your meeting, invite them to come back or to your next lobby meeting or to join your local Action Network. Getting them engaged and then keeping them engaged is the key to your success (as a volunteer, you know that first-hand). If you need coaching on how to best reach out to people or how best to run your first #LettersGetLOUD meeting, please contact Jos Linn.

Got Twenty Minutes? Generate Media on Protecting Anti-Poverty Programs Using President’s Budget as a Hook

A President’s budget reflects his vision for America.  From that perspective, President Trump’s vision is stark, with the most affluent individuals and powerful corporations accumulating more wealth — and wielding more power, and facing fewer limits, to treat workers and consumers as they choose — while tens of millions of struggling Americans must reduce their already modest standards of living.

Bob Greenstein, President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Yesterday, President Trump released his FY2019 budget proposal. Sadly, it proposes deep cuts to anti-poverty programs and services everyday Americans rely on to make ends meet. Here are some examples of the changes he proposes (over the next ten years):

• Cut Medicaid by 22 percent by repealing the Affordable Care Act and its Medicaid expansion; would also impose per capita caps on traditional Medicaid or allow states to convert their Medicaid programs to a block grant
• Cut SNAP by 27 percent, including imposing time limits and sending pre-packaged boxes of food to recipients instead of using EBT cards to let people shop at the grocery store
• Cut section 8 housing assistance by 20 percent
• Enacting $550 billion in new tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy

While the President’s proposal is unlikely to become law, it does reflect the President’s priorities. As leader of the party that controls Congress, his budget therefore has influence on the priorities Congress will make this year. Use the media to tell your members of Congress to stand firm and oppose any cuts, restrictions, or restructuring of anti-poverty programs.

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to draft and send a letter to the editor to your local paper urging them your members of Congress to reject any attempts to cut and restrict anti-poverty programs. Use coverage of the President’s budget proposal in your paper as a hook for your letter. Use our online tool to customize your own letter and send it today. Let Congress and the President know that repeated attempts to slash Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical services will be met with fierce resistance.

Also, if you’d like to learn more about the Trump budget proposal, register for “The Trump Budget: What You Need to Know” webinar tomorrow, February 14 at 12:30 pm ET.  Our allies hosting the webinar will provide an excellent overview of the proposal and how you can push back against these attempts to shred the safety net.

Quick News

Please Submit Your 2018 Group Plans. If you have not submitted your 2018 Group Plan Summary, please e-mail it to Jos Linn ASAP.

Invite Someone You Know to the RESULTS Conference. We are working to make the 2018 RESULTS International Conference the best one yet. Why not invite someone you know – someone who’s never been –  to attend this year’s event. Share our new 2018 Conference Facebook video and then urge them to register.

Invite Young Leaders to Apply for REAL Change. If you know someone 18-30 years old who wants to be a top-notch advocate for the end of poverty, urge them to apply for the REAL Change Fellowship. Slots are limited so apply today.

Upcoming Events

Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.

Pennsylvania “Join the Fight Against Poverty” Training, Saturday, February 17 at 10:00am ET. Featuring RESULTS Expert on Poverty Asia Bijan Thompson. Al Beech/Wood Side Food Pantry, 190 S Sprague Ave, Kingston, PA. For more information contact [email protected].

House and Senate Recess, February 19-23. After any lobby meeting, please complete the RESULTS Lobby Report Form to let us know how it went.

West Virginia Outreach Event, February 22. Morgantown, WV. More details to come. Contact Kristy Martino for more information.

New Jersey “Storytelling for a Cause” Training, February 22 at 7:00pm. Morris County Public Library 30 Hanover Ave., Whippany NJ.  RSVP on Facebook.

U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, February 20 at 1:00pm and 8:00pm ET. Login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.

House and Senate Recess, March 26 – April 6. After any lobby meeting, please complete the RESULTS Lobby Report Form to let us know how it went.

2018 RESULTS International Conference, July 14-17, 2018, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Registration is now open – register today. Watch our new 2018 Conference video and share it (along with our flyer) with others you know!

If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Steven McGee at [email protected]. You can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.