U.S. Poverty Weekly Update July 5, 2017
U.S. Poverty Campaigns
Weekly Update | July 5, 2017
“Through the efforts of RESULTS’ volunteers, billions of dollars in federal government funding has been channeled to meet the basic needs of poor people in the United States and around the world.”
– New York Times op-ed by David Bornstein published July 4, 2017
- Got Two Minutes? Talk to Lawmakers during July 4 and August Recesses
- Got Ten Minutes? Generate Letters to Hand-Deliver in DC (July Action)
- Got Twenty Minutes? Keep Pressure on the Senate to Reject BCRA (June Action)
- Quick News
- Upcoming Events
Quick Action: Tell Senators to Protect Medicaid!
| Take Action! |
Got Two Minutes? Talk to Lawmakers during July 4 and August Recesses
We hope you had an enjoyable Independence Day holiday. Congress is on recess this week for the holiday as well and fortunately, they are getting an earful from their constituents. This is a critical week, especially in our work on health care. It is more likely than not that the health care issues will get resolved in July. Leaders want it done one way or another before the August recess, so they can move on to tax reform and the budget in the fall. Therefore, this will be the last time you get to interact with them at home before the health care issue is resolved. Make it count.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to contact House and Senate schedulers about town halls or other events during the July 4 recess. You can find contact information on the RESULTS Elected Officials page. Also, go to www.townhallproject.com to see if any events are listed there. For senators, urge them to oppose any bill that cuts or caps Medicaid or causes millions to lose health insurance. For House members, tell them to oppose any cuts Medicaid and SNAP in the budget. If you find an event to attend, contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to help you get ready.
Also, we need to keep the pressure on in August recess to protect programs that lift and keep people out of poverty. While you’re on the phone with schedulers asking about town halls this week, also request face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress during the August recess (July 31-September 4). If they ask for a written request, use our online sample meeting request to send. When you get meetings scheduled, please make sure to enter each one into our Lobby Meeting Tracker (this also includes any meetings for the RESULTS International Conference).
Got Ten Minutes? Generate Letters to Hand-Deliver in DC (July Action)
Anti-poverty advocates have been busy and effective in 2017. Pushing back against attempts to gut Medicaid and SNAP has so far proven successful, but the fight is far from over. While most of America (and RESULTS) has focused on health care the last few months, Congress has been quietly laying the groundwork to make deeper cuts to anti-poverty programs. House budget leaders have been working to include $200 billion in “fast-track” cuts (reconciliation) to entitlement programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and Medicaid.
RESULTS volunteers will be meeting with congressional offices in Washington, DC at the RESULTS International Conference (July 22-25). Amplify their voices by generating letters from group members and others in your community urging lawmakers to protect SNAP in the 2018 Budget.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to help everyone participate in Advocacy Day (July 25) at the RESULTS International Conference. Invite friends and colleagues to write letters on our U.S. Poverty issues that you can hand-deliver during lobby meetings in DC. Host a local letter-writing party during next Tuesday’s National Webinar (July 11 at 8:00 pm ET) or at some other time before people leave for the Conference (around July 21). The July Action has tips getting the word out and talking points for your actual letters (download this Outreach Action (PDF or Word) to give to people to write letters). Also, those who bring the most letters to the Conference will a small recognition at the Conference for your effort.
Got Twenty Minutes? Keep Pressure on the Senate to Reject BCRA (June Action)
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) postponed plans to vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the Senate’s bill to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. We learned then that the bill would cut and cap Medicaid deeper than the House health bill. However, the intervening days have shown that things would be even worse for Medicaid patients under BCRA. It would make changes making it harder to people to get services and now we’ve learned from the Congressional Budget Office that additional BCRA cuts to Medicaid between 2027-2036 would amount to an overall cut of 35 percent to the program. This again confirms that millions of low-income people will lose health coverage under the Senate plan.
Sen. McConnell is working hard to reach a deal that will get him 51 votes in the Senate to pass BCRA. He will not be making fundamental changes to the bill, but rather making tweaks here and there to appease members , such as giving their states special provisions. No matter what changes he makes, remember that this bill cannot be fixed! We need to keep sending that message until BCRA and the House health bill are tabled for good.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to keep the pressure on Senators to reject any version of their health bill in the coming weeks. Specifically:
1.Continue calling your Senate offices to tell them to oppose any bill that cuts or caps Medicaid.
2.Urge everyone you know to keep calling as well.
3.Generate media opposing gutting Medicaid and taking health insurance from millions of Americans.
The June Action has all the information you need to take these actions in quick succession.
Quick News
RESULTS Highlighted in the New York Times. Your success as advocates is being noticed! Yesterday, columnist David Bornstein of the New York Times wrote a great op-ed piece about the importance of citizen engagement in shaping policy which focused on the work of RESULTS. Share the link to this piece with your local action networks and on social media. Show people that their voices still matter!
You Broke the Record! 2017 is now officially the most outstanding year for U.S. Poverty media in our 37-year history. You have shattered that record by getting 252 media in just the first six months of 2017. Our previous record was 243 media pieces for all of 2001. Congratulations on your amazing work! You can bet your media has helped delay the efforts to repeal the ACA and decimate Medicaid (they were supposed to be done in January). Now is no time to stop. Let’s keep this media frenzy going with a new goal – 300 pieces by the end of the RESULTS International Conference. Use our online Medicaid letter to the editor action to send yours today keep breaking our record all year long.
RESULTS Conference Items:
- Everyone currently registered for the RESULTS International Conference (it’s not too late to register!) has been contacted about setting up a lobby prep call to get you ready for your Conference lobby meetings. Thank you to everyone who has responded. If you have not, please fill out our Doodle poll ASAP to let us know when you’re available to meet with Meredith Dodson for your call. You will be contacted by Jos Linn once your state’s call is set.
- As you set up lobby meetings at the Conference, please fill out our Lobby Meeting Schedule Form for each meeting you get scheduled.
- We have available a customizable invitation for our Advocacy Day (July 25) evening reception, to be held at our conference hotel. You' can invite congressional offices to join us for this special celebration. Find the invitation template online.
- At the Conference, we’ll be doing special trainings on Saturday morning (July 22) and Wednesday morning (July 26). Sign up to attend one or both of these trainings. Space is limited.
- For all your Conference-related resources, go to our 2017 RESULTS Conference Resources page.
Join CHN Webinar Tomorrow for 2018 Budget Update. Over the last month, many of your signed your local RESULTS group onto a letter by the Coalition on Human Needs urging Congress to reject President Trump’s FY 2018 budget. Tomorrow, July 6 at 1:00 pm ET, CHN will host a webinar for advocates updating what’s happening with the budget and how you can use this letter to continue generating support for a fair budget for all. You can join the call at (844) 224-7906, conference ID 49478585.
National Webinar is Next Tuesday. Just a reminder that the U.S. Poverty National Webinar is next Tuesday, July 11 at 8:00 pm ET. We’ll have details about the webinar in next Tuesday’s Weekly Update. Also, due staff vacations after the RESULTS Conference, the August webinar will be on August 15, a week later than our normal second Tuesday of the month. We’ll return to our normal date in September (September 12).
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.
Upcoming Congressional Recesses: House and Senate: July 3-7; July 31-September 4.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Tuesday, July 11 at 8:00 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.
RESULTS Introductory Call, Wednesday, July 12 at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an Intro Call on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, July 18 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.
RESULTS International Conference, Saturday, July 22 – Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC. Register today!
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, August 15 at 8:00 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#.
If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Vanessa Garcia 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.