U.S. Poverty Weekly Update May 8, 2012


May 8, 2012

“The Labor, Health, Human Services and Education allocation… makes investments to better educate our children to compete in the future, discover life-saving research and fund services critical to the most vulnerable. These allocations should reflect our values and advance the moral responsibilities of the nation to provide for the common good.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3), Ranking Member of the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee and May 2012 RESULTS National Conference Call Guest Speaker

New and Urgent in This Week’s Update (Two-Ten-Twenty Actions)

  • Got Two Minutes? Join RESULTS National Conference Call THIS Saturday with Rep. Rosa DeLauro — Invite Allies to Attend Call with Your Group
  • Got Ten Minutes? Write a Letter to the Editor Opposing Cuts to Safety Net Programs that Fight Poverty (May Action)
  • Got Twenty Minutes? Write Your Own Media Piece to Oppose Cuts to SNAP, Child Care, and the Child Tax Credit (May Action)

Latest from Washington, DC

Organizational Updates


Join RESULTS National Conference Call THIS Saturday with Rep. Rosa DeLauro — Invite Allies to Attend Call with Your Group

As announced last week, RESULTS is excited that Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3) will be a conference call speaker for the May 2012 RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Conference Call. As a champion for low-income children and families, Congresswoman DeLauro’s appearance on our call is a great opportunity to invite community allies to this call to learn more about what is going on with the federal budget and what RESULTS is doing about it.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to contact friends and allies to attend the RESULTS national conference call this Saturday, May 12 at 12:30 pm ET. Because upcoming actions in Congress (see below) will impact many different anti-poverty programs, reach out to community allies that focus on these areas and invite them to attend. Local child care providers, Head Start parents and staff, food bank staff, VITA staff and volunteers, faith leaders, and other allies might appreciate the opportunity to hear from a member of Congress on these issues, as well as learn how your RESULTS group is working locally to oppose these budget cuts.

To help you, download and attach our outreach flyer about the call to an email to send to local allies. You can copy and paste this message into your e-mail:

Dear _______________,

I would like to invite you to come hear Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut speak on the RESULTS National Conference Call this Saturday, May 12 at 12:30pm ET. As you may be aware, the House of Representatives is prosing to cut billions in funding for SNAP (food stamps), child care assistance, someone whose work would be impacted by these cuts, I think you would find the call informative and inspiring. Congresswoman DeLauro is a fierce champion for low-income children, families, and workers who will give us an update on what is going on in Congress around the budget and how we can take action to oppose these drastic cuts.

Our local RESULTS group (www.results.org) is meeting at ___________________________ to listen to the call. We welcome you to join us. Attached is a flyer with more information about the call. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at _____________________.

Thank you for your time and for your hard work in helping alleviate poverty in our community.

Sincerely,

A.D. Vocate

WHAT TO DO ON SATURDAY: To join the call, dial (888) 409-6709 and once connected to the operator, ask for the RESULTS National Conference Call. Plan to call in no later than 12:27 pm ET to give time to the operator to connect you with the call. Also, please make sure to have downloaded the call overview (PDF) we will use during the conference call. We look forward to a great call!


Write a Letter to the Editor Opposing Cuts to Safety Net Programs that Fight Poverty (May Action)

The House is expected to vote this week on sweeping cuts to SNAP, child care, the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and other services for benefitting millions of low-income children and families. The vote on what is called the House reconciliation package” is expected this Thursday. Here are some of the impacts if the House cuts were to become law:

  • 280,000 low-income children would lose free breakfast and lunch meals at school (due to cuts to SNAP)
  • 4 million low-income children and their families would access to child care (due to cuts in the Social Services Block Grant)
  • 5.5 million low-income children and their families would no longer be eligible for the Child Tax Credit
  • 14 million children would lose health coverage from cuts to Medicaid and CHIP
  • 22 million low-income children would see their SNAP benefits eliminated or cut

TAKE ACTION: Take five minutes to send a letter to the editor using our online media action to tell lawmakers that budget cuts to anti-poverty programs are wrong for America. Be sure to personalize the letter by calling your House and Senate members by name in your letter.

Then take another five minutes to watch the new “Proponomics” video from the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) illustrating the impact of the House reconciliation package on low-income Americans. After the video, use CHN’s ready-made e-mail alert to send a message to House members to vote NO on the bill. Be sure to personalize your e-mail by changing the subject line and sharing any personal stories or concerns you have about these cuts. Personalized messages are more effective or more likely to get read.


Write Your Own Media Piece to Oppose Cuts to SNAP, Child Care, and the Child Tax Credit (May Action)

As mentioned above, the House will likely vote this week on sweeping cuts to SNAP, child care assistance, the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other services for millions of low-income children and families. In order to put pressure on policymakers and educate others in our community, let’s use the media both before and after the vote to tell lawmakers that these cuts are wrong for America.

Media work is an essential part of any advocacy strategy. It holds members of Congress accountable for their actions in a prominent and public way. Congressional offices still pay close attention to print media in their states and districts to see what constituents are saying and what they care about. Your media pieces will go a long way in building the political will we need to protect America’s vulnerable children and families.

Also check out this graphic put together by Half in Ten: the Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half in Ten Years that focuses on what the proposed House cuts could mean for children. Share this with others in your community to illustrate what’s at stake – often, visuals like these are more effective than just facts and figures.

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to take the May Action — draft and submit a letter to the editor or to begin drafting an op-ed to your local paper. Be sure to personalize your letter and share personal stories and/or why you personally care about protecting low-income children and families. Here are some tips to get you started:

  • Find a piece in your local newspaperabout the House Budget Reconciliation Bill, the federal budget deficit, or events on Capitol Hill.
  • Express your outrage over proposed cuts to safety net programs being considered in the House of Representatives. Specifically these proposals would:
  • Point out that study after study has shown that thesafety net programs are effective at alleviating hardship, targeted at those most in need, and affordable.
  • Highlight thatthese budget proposals are about choices — these draconian cuts are being used to give wealthy Americans and big corporations a massive tax cut.
  • Remind readers thatwe are a stronger Americawhen our children are fed; parents can get quality and affordable child care while they work; and everyone has access to healthcare when they need it.
  • Urge your senators and representative by nameto ensure a smarter, healthier, and stronger America by rejecting cuts to safety net programs that support low-income working families.

To find contact information for media outlets in your area, including telephone numbers and addresses, visit our Media Guide at http://capwiz.com/results/dbq/media/. In addition, see our Activist Toolkit pieces on writing a letter to the editor and generating an op-ed and send your published piece to your member of Congress. We will update the May Action sheet when the House votes on the budget reconciliation deal (tentatively May 10). Please check the online version for updated talking points after the vote.

We’ll have more on this budget fight on RESULTS’ May National Conference Call with Rep. Rosa DeLauro. The call is this Saturday, May 12 at 12:30 pm ET, (888) 409-6709.


RESULTS would like to welcome a new addition to our U.S. Poverty Team. Jennifer Martin has been hired as our new U.S. Poverty Grassroots Organizer for New England. She will be working part-time for the rest of this year to help us start new groups in the New England region of the U.S. We are very excited to have her working with us. Jenny has been working with community action and social justice for over 15 years. Originally from the West Coast, Jenny got her B.A. in Social Justice Education from Western Washington University, Fairhaven College, and her M.Ed in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her work has centered on building lasting networks, supportive relationships and fun and interactive ways to address justice and equity. She has professional experience in community organizing, disability rights advocacy, anti-violence advocacy, social justice facilitation, volunteer recruiting, carpentry, and circus arts. Jenny also loves to ride her bike, create art, and play music — all of which are fun to bring into work! She’s looking forward to supporting the expansion of RESULTS in New England with panache and dedication. Welcome, Jenny!

If you know anyone in New England who might be interested in knowing more about RESULTS, please contact Jenny at [email protected].

Also on the outreach front, RESULTS Senior Associate for U.S. Poverty Campaigns Jos Linn is heading to Buffalo, NY for the RESULTS Buffalo outreach meeting on tomorrow night. This should be an exciting event to expand that long-standing group. If you know anyone in the Buffalo area, please urge them to attend. The meeting is 5:30 – 7:45 pm ET at the Network of Religious Communities, 1272 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. Please RSVP to Bruce Davidson at [email protected].

We’re also working to start new groups in Rochester (NY), Montana, Kansas City, and San Antonio. If you know anyone in these or other places around the U.S. and would like to connect them with RESULTS, please contact the RESULTS U.S. Poverty Team.

 


Are you taking regular actions on RESULTS’ issues but don’t have a chapter nearby (yet)? Do you care about poverty but are not sure how to get involved in anti-poverty advocacy? If so, plan to join our new “RESULTS Free Agents” group. This “virtual” group meets monthly by phone for relationship-building, information, and support.

If your interest is U.S. poverty issues, our RESULTS Free Agents (U.S. Poverty) group call meets the third Tuesday of each month at 9:00 pm ET. The next call is Tuesday, May 15 at 9 pm ET. For more information about the U.S. poverty group, contact Jos Linn at [email protected]. If your interest is global poverty, our RESULTS Free Agents (Global Poverty) group call meets the third Monday of each month at 8:00 pm ET. The next call is Monday, May 21 at 8 pm ET. For more information about the global poverty group, contact Lisa Marchal at [email protected]

The dial-in number for both calls is (218) 486-1611, passcode RESULTS# (7378587#).

Members of the RESULTS Free Agents group are also encouraged to participate in the monthly national conference calls with other RESULTS volunteers around the country. The next monthly calls are this Saturday, May 12, (888) 409-6709 (12:30 pm ET for U.S. poverty volunteers; 2:00 pm ET for global poverty volunteers).


Be Ready to Put Child Care on the Map – Save the Date for Campaign Kickoff May 17

You know how important it is for families to have access to good, reliable, high-quality child care. You know that child care is early learning, and also a crucial support for working parents. You also know that good care is in short supply, and that the need for assistance with paying for child care is increasing all around us.

The federal government plays a huge role in child care policy and funding, but child care isn’t front and center for too many Members of Congress. They need our help to know more, and know how urgently we need their action for child care.

In other words, we need to put child care on the map, and we’re joining with our allies at the National Women’s Law Center and the Early Care and Education Consortium to launch a long-term campaign to do just that!

Later this week, you get more information from RESULTS on how you can take action to help us put the importance of child care front and center before decision-makers. In the meantime, check out our Put Child Care on the Map page on the RESULTS website for more information how you can take action to help us put the importance of child care front and center before decision-makers. We also invite you to join us for a special kickoff conference call to learn more about this campaign on Thursday, May 17, at 2:00 pm ET. Details of the conference call and registration information will go out tomorrow. Be on the lookout for these valuable resources and plan to help us put child care on the map!


Is Your Church Ready to Take Over Food Stamps? Recently, Rep. Paul Ryan said that the government should get out of the way and let churches take over the responsibility for taking care of people in poverty. In response, Bread for the World has done an analysis of what the proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) would mean for local churches. To make up for the $170 billion in proposed SNAP cuts over the next decade, every church in America, no matter how big or small, would have to spend an additional $50,000 per year for the next ten years to feed the poor. And with billions more in cuts proposed to anti-poverty health, education, and child care programs (among others), we see how absurd this line of argument is.

New Data Shows Medicaid Costs Are Growing Slower than Private Insurance. One of the key arguments by those proposing to cut anti-poverty programs is that their costs are out of control. New data once again proves these claims are false. As reported in the Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a study showing that Medicaid costs are growing slower other medical costs. Between 2001 and 2010, Medicaid costs grew by 2.5 percent, almost one percent slower than overall medical costs (3.4 percent) and less than half the growth in private health insurance (5.5. percent). Despite this performance, the House Republican Budget proposes to cut Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade and covert it into block grant to states. Urge Congress to protect Medicaid from these wrong-headed cuts using our online e-mail alert.


REGISTER for the 2012 RESULTS International Conference TODAY!

As our list of exciting plenary speakers continues to grow, don’t forget about the engaging workshops and issue sessions you can attend at the IC! This year we are offering more options than ever before! Besides issue-specific sessions, there will be over 20 workshops that will teach you how to improve your advocacy, organizing, social media, general media, and fundraising skills. Do you want to learn how to pitch a story to your local media? We have a workshop for that! Or how to reach out to others to expand RESULTS in your area? We have a session for that too! Read all about the sessions here And then…

REGISTER for the 2012 RESULTS International Conference TODAY!


Announcements

Register for the Next RESULTS Intro Call. If you know anyone interested in learning more about RESULTS (or you’re interested yourself), please urge them to register for our next RESULTS Introductory Call. These calls are ideal for people looking for a way to put their passion for justice into action with RESULTS. Our next RESULTS Intro Call is Friday, May 18 at 1:00 pm ET. People can register at http://tinyurl.com/RESULTSMeetandGreet.


RESULTS Activity Calendar

(See a complete calendar on the RESULTS website)

Upcoming Congressional Recesses: House recess, May 19 – 29. Senate recess, May 28 – June 1. Request face-to-face meetings!

Saturday, May 12: RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Conference Call, 12:30 pm ET. (888) 409-6709. Listen to previous conference calls online.

Tuesday, May 15: RESULTS Free Agents group (U.S. Poverty) call, 9:00 pm ET. (218) 486-1611, passcode RESULTS# (7378587#). For more information about the U.S. poverty group, contact Jos Linn at [email protected].

Tuesday, May 15: Deadline to apply for the REAL Change Scholarship Program for the RESULTS International Conference.

Thursday, May 17: “Put Child Care on the Map” conference call, 2:00 pm ET. Details later this week.

Friday, May 18: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.

Monday, May 21: RESULTS Free Agents group (Global Poverty) call, 8:00 pm ET. (218) 486-1611, passcode RESULTS# (7378587#). For more information about the U.S. poverty group, contact Lisa Marchal at [email protected].

May 21: RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9 pm ET. To RSVP, contact Lisa Marchal. To call in, dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. This is the second call in the series (you don’t need to have been on the first call to participate).

Saturday, July 21 – Tuesday, July 24, 2012: RESULTS International Conference, Washington, DC. Register TODAY!


RESULTS Contact Information

Main Office: (p) (202) 783-7100, (f) (202) 783-2818, 1730 Rhode Island Ave, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. If mailing a donation to our DC office, please address the envelope to the attention of Cynthia Stancil.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty Legislative and Grassroots Support Staff:

The RESULTS Domestic Update is sent out every Tuesday via e-mail to RESULTS volunteers and allies all over the country. The purpose of these updates is to inform and activate RESULTS activists to take action on our domestic campaigns.

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