U.S. Poverty Weekly Update October 10, 2017

U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | October 10, 2017

“While one in 20 bags of food assistance comes from a charitable organization, federal nutrition programs provide the rest. So why are some members of Congress taking aim at the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps), the very program that helps working families put food on the table?”

– RESULTS North Dakota volunteer Kathleen Ness in a October 6 letter to the editor in the Grand Forks Herald

Quick Action: Tell Congress to Reject Tax Cuts that Put Anti-Poverty Programs at Risk

Got Two Minutes? Get Ready for TONIGHT’s U.S. Poverty National Webinar

Join us tonight at 8:00 pm ET for the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar as we focus on the current budget and tax debate. Congress is working quickly to pass a budget and tax legislation in the next few months with proposals that would enrich the extremely wealthy while putting SNAP, Medicaid, and other anti-poverty programs at risk. However, grassroots advocates succeeded in stopping the dismantling of Medicaid and we can do it again with taxes. We’ll be joined by Chye-Ching Huang from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who will update you on the latest on the budget and how to use this moment to educate lawmakers and our communities about what’s at stake. With the Senate home this week, we’ll also hear a great story about college students using an appearance from their senator on campus to hold him accountable. Finally, we’ll preview our fall fundraising campaign coming in November. Please join us.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to remind your local RESULTS group about the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Grassroots Webinar tonight, October 10 at 8:00 pm ET. Remind members if your group is meeting for the call or if group members (and Free Agents) are calling in on their own. To join online, login at http://fuze.me/32255914 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Plan to log in or call in no later than 7:55 pm ET. The webinar slides will be available on our National Webinars page before the webinar.

Got Ten Minutes? Talk to Lawmakers about Tax Fairness and Protecting Vulnerable Americans

This week, senators are home on recess. When they return to DC next week, they are expected to vote on the Senate budget resolution passed by the Senate Budget Committee last week. This budget gives Congress a pass on $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy (i.e. they don’t have to be paid for), which would pave the way for cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, the  EITC and Child Tax Credit down the road. It is imperative that we make it as hard as possible to vote YES on that budget next week.

In addition, the House approved their 2018 budget resolution last Thursday, which also supports big tax cuts for the wealthy and spells out cuts (some of them fast-tracked through budget reconciliation) to SNAP, Medicaid, and the EITC to pay for them. The House will have to negotiate with the Senate on a final budget. Luckily, House members will be on recess next week when you can demand they reject reckless tax cuts and attacks on anti-poverty programs.

TAKE ACTION: Request face-to-face meetings with your representatives and senators while they are on recess over the next two weeks (Senate: October 9-13; House: October 16-20). Contact schedulers (plug in your address on our new Elected Officials page, then click on your senators’ or representative’s name to scroll down to “Staff Members”) to request a meeting or check on the status a previous request. Be sure to ask about town halls and public events your members of Congress may be having during the recesses (also check www.townhallproject.com for events). Use our updated U.S. Poverty Laser Talks for talking points. When you get a meeting or town hall on your calendar, please contact Meredith Dodson to get individualized coaching for your meeting. Also, please remember to fill out a lobby report form afterward to let us know how it went.

If you cannot get a meeting during the recesses, please contact the key aides in your House and Senate offices urging them to reject these proposed budgets (focus on the aide you have the closest relationship with; find aide names through this page).

Got Twenty Minutes? Use October Recess to Talk about Poverty and Taxes (October Action)

In addition to recess activities (see above), we want to make sure members of Congress hear from as many of you as possible about opposing any plan to cut taxes for the wealthy and put SNAP, Medicaid, and other anti-poverty programs at risk. Therefore, the October Action goes old school urging you, your groups, and people in your community to write letters to your members of Congress on this issue. The Action has talking points for your letters. Once written, plan to take them to face-to-face meetings and events, or aide meetings, during the October recesses to hand-deliver them. Otherwise, fax them in (you can find contact numbers on our Elected Officials page).

Also, use this critical budget fight to engage others in taking action. Do a presentation in your community highlighting these threats and urge new people to write letters as well. We have resources on the RESULTS website to help you. Our victory in protecting Medicaid happened because enough people stood up to say “No!” Let’s do it again on these dangerous budget and tax proposals.

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to write letters to your members of Congress urging them to reject any budget proposal that enacts tax cuts for the wealthy and puts anti-poverty programs at risk. The October Action has talking points to help with your letters. In addition, use this newest threat to engage others to take action too. In addition to the PPTs, Action Sheets, Laser Talks on our website, the Action has a sample meeting agenda for you. Tailor it to your particular event and if you need additional help, please contact Jos Linn for assistance.

Quick News

Join Next Prosperity Now Tax Webinar Today at 2:00pm ET. Join Prosperity Now’s webinar “Bringing Tax Wonks and Grassroots Activists Together to End Inequality” this afternoon at 2:00 pm ET. Learn from tax policy experts on how to more effectively harness the power of activists to impact tax policy.  You can register for the webinar here and read their report on the subject here. Also, be sure to listen to the first webinar in this series “The Power of Advocacy in the Fight for Equity” with our own Meredith Dodson.

Join RESULTS and MomsRising “Food Friday” Tweet Chat this Friday. The U.S. Census recently released poverty and food insecurity data from 2016. We will be discussing this new information in the context of its real impact on working families, and evaluating the effectiveness of basic assistance programs such as SNAP on everyday Americans. Join us on Twitter using the hashtag #FoodFri on Friday, October 13, from 1:00 -2:00 pm ET for a discussion of these programs and the threats and opportunities ahead.

Free Agents Calls Next Week. The U.S. Poverty Free Agents will meet next Tuesday, October 17 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. If you want support in taking action on our domestic poverty issues but live in an area with no active RESULTS U.S. Poverty group, join us. To participate, login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.

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: October 16-20; Senate: October 9-13.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Tuesday, October 10 at 8:00 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#.

RESULTS Introductory Call, Wednesday, October 11 at 9:00pm ET. Register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.

RESULTS and MomsRising Food Friday Tweet Chat, Friday, October 13 at 1:00 -2:00 pm ET. Join on Twitter at #FoodFri.

U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, October 17 at 1:00pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.

Observance of Veterans’ Day, Friday, November 10. All RESULTS offices closed.

2018 RESULTS International Conference, July 14-17, 2018, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Save the date and keep an eye out for more details.

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.