U.S. Poverty Weekly Update May 31, 2016
U.S. Poverty Campaigns
Weekly Update | May 31, 2016
“There are no simple answers when it comes to ending poverty, but by protecting and strengthening the EITC and SNAP, we can ensure that millions of Americans have what they need to move forward, care for their families and work toward reaching their full potential.”
– RESULTS Santa Fe volunteers Estelle Berger and Mimi Hatch in a May 29 op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican
- Got Two Minutes? Talk to Your Members of Congress This Week about Ending Poverty in America
- Got Ten Minutes? Be Persistent in Getting Your LTEs and Op-eds Published (May Action)
- Got Twenty Minutes? Read the New RESULTS Conference U.S. Poverty Background Packet
- Quick News
- Upcoming Events
Quick Media Action: Tell Congress to Protect SNAP!
| Take Action! |
Got Two Minutes? Talk to Your Members of Congress This Week about Ending Poverty in America
Your members of Congress are on recess all this week, which means they are available to meet with you in your home states and districts. With House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Poverty Task Force report expected next week and both the House and Senate laying out their priorities for the rest of this year, as well as laying the groundwork for next year, this is a good time to be talking to them about protecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and narrowing the racial wealth gap. Don’t let the election year chaos drown out the attention lawmakers need to give to the issue you care about – ending poverty in America. Use this week’s recess to help them keep they eye on the ball.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to contact your House and Senate schedulers about meetings and town halls they may be holding this week. Find scheduler names, contact info, and website addresses on our Elected Officials page (see a sample request letter on the RESULTS website). Once you schedule a meeting or find an event you plan to attend, please contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to schedule a lobby prep call to help you get ready. Also, be sure to review our economic mobility and nutrition assistance requests and plan to take copies with you. Finally, after your meeting or town hall, please fill out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form to let us know how it went.
Got Ten Minutes? Be Persistent in Getting Your LTEs and Op-eds Published (May Action)
We’re at the end of the month and want to thank you for your media work over the last two months urging Congress to help low-income Americans receiving the EITC and SNAP. Since April 1, you have gotten 28 media pieces published about these issues (16 in May alone). Congratulations! We thank you for your persistence in getting these published (and the countless others submitted but not yet in print).
Persistence is the key with any kind of advocacy work, especially with the media. Last week, RESULTS Des Moines volunteer and Grassroots Manager Jos Linn got an op-ed published in the Des Moines Register. He first submitted that op-ed two months ago. When it didn’t appear, he kept pursuing it by following up with the editorial page editor to see if it was still being considered. Finally, he was told last week that it would finally be printed. Had he just given up when it didn’t appear in early April, it likely would have never been printed. His persistence paid off.
If you’ve submitted a letter or op-ed in the last two months and it has not appeared, don’t give up. Follow up with the paper to see if they plan to print it. Be sure to resend a copy of your media piece when you follow-up. If they are not going to print it, send it to another paper in your area or state. Keep trying.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to draft and submit letter to the editor or op-ed urging Congress to protect SNAP. The June Action won’t come out until next week so you have more time to use the May Action to generate media before the Poverty Task Force releases its recommendations next week (we anticipate they will propose big changes to SNAP). Tell your members of Congress by name to reject efforts to cut or restructure SNAP. And make sure to send a copy of your published letter to them. If you need help with ideas or editing of your media piece, please contact Jos Linn at [email protected].
Got Twenty Minutes? Read the New RESULTS Conference U.S. Poverty Background Packet
We are now less than one month from the 2016 RESULTS International Conference and there are a number of things you can do to prepare for your time in Washington, DC. One of our most important resources is the U.S. Poverty Campaigns Background Packet. We prepare this packet to provide you an overview of the issues we are working on each year, give you up-to-date analysis and research, and share stories to illustrate how these issues impact people in the real world. It is a great tool to help you prepare for lobby meetings in DC and back home. This year’s packet will focus on our current campaigns to expand the EITC, reduce the racial wealth gap, and our targeted work in protecting federal nutrition programs. Whether you are coming to DC or not, use this resource to deepen your understanding of our current campaigns and better prepare you for the work ahead.
Note: We will update the SNAP section of the packet next week after the Poverty Task Force releases its recommendations. If you plan to print a copy, you may want to wait until after that to do so.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to read the new 2016 U.S. Poverty Campaigns Background Packet. You can download it from our 2016 RESULTS International Conference Resources page. This is meant to be used by all volunteers as a resource for the rest of the year. Whether you come to DC or not, the information will be helpful in all of your advocacy work with RESULTS.
If your group has yet to do a Lobby Prep Call with Meredith Dodson to help you get ready for your DC Lobby Meetings, we encourage you to read the packet before then. Also, if you want a copy at the Conference itself, please bring your own. We will not be printing copies for each attendee. And remember, it is not too late to register for this year’s RESULTS International Conference. We want you to be a part of this amazing experience. Register today at www.resultsconference.org!
Quick News
June Action Out Next Week. The June Action will focus on writing letters to members of Congress about supporting Americans living in poverty (and having volunteers attending the RESULTS Conference hand-deliver them). As mentioned previously, Paul Ryan’s Poverty Task Force is expected to release its recommendations sometime next week. So we can provide you with the most up-to-date messaging, we are going to wait to release the June Action until next week. Stay tuned. In the meantime, if you need an action to generate letters on our issues, use this one-page Outreach Action sheet until the June Action comes out.
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.
Congressional Recesses: House and Senate: May 30 – June 3. Request face-to-face meetings. After your meeting, please tell us how it went by filling out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form: www.tinyurl.com/RESLRF.
RESULTS Introductory Call, June 8, at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, June 11 at 12:30 pm ET. Join the meeting online at http://fuze.me/32255914; or by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, June 21 at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET. Join online at http://fuze.me/32256018 or by phone at: (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.
2016 RESULTS International Conference, June 25-28, 2016 in Washington, DC. Register at www.resultsconference.org!
If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Lydia Pendley at [email protected]. You can download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report at: https://results.org/about/annual_report/.