Summary of RESULTS U.S. Campaigns for 2012

RESULTS works to find the "trimtab" campaigns that will make a substantial difference in breaking the cycle of poverty in the United States while simultaneously ensuring that our small but very engaged grassroots network makes a strategic impact. You can read thorough summaries of our 2011, 2010 and 2009 U.S. poverty campaigns on our website, as well as other RESULTS successes over the previous decades. On November 30, 2011, the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board of Directors approved the following as priority campaigns for 2012:

Using Tax Policy to Break the Cycle of Poverty

Goals: Protect Critical Tax Credits for Low-Income Working Families and Build Support for Asset-Building Policies, Notably the “Saver’s Bonus”

Why This Campaign Is Important

We at RESULTS strongly believe in a fair tax code and in giving low-income families opportunities to move up the economic ladder. We support features of the tax code that assist working families, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). The EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low-income working individuals and families. It is designed to “make work pay” and it is the largest poverty-reduction program in the U.S; in 2010, the EITC lifted 5.4 million above the poverty line. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is a partially refundable tax credit for families with children. The purpose of the CTC is to help low and middle income families with the cost of raising children. Both of these credits provide significant income support to families who work in low-wage jobs.

As our top campaign priority in 2010, RESULTS volunteers successfully lobbied Congress to protect these tax credits for low-income working families. Specifically, RESULTS worked to extend expansions of the EITC and CTC enacted in 2009. These expansions allowed more low-income families to claim the CTC and increased the EITC for married couples and larger families. Unfortunately, these long-overdue improvements were set to expire at the end of 2010. However, in part because of our grassroots advocacy efforts, Congress extended those expansions for another two years. In 2012, these EITC and CTC provisions are again set to expire at the end of the year, which will affect millions of low-income Americans. For example, a minimum wage family with two children working full-time will see their child tax credit drop $1,500 from about $1,750 this year to only $250. The result is that over 10 million families lose benefits and 600,000 children will fall back into poverty. We cannot allow this to happen.

In addition, RESULTS supports policies that help low-income families build assets and savings to become financially self-reliant. In addition to increasing financial security, assets support low-income families them to weather emergencies, make investments in property, achieve a higher education, and create small businesses. In addition, low-income families that are able to save money are more likely to have children who are upwardly mobile when they become adults. In other words, assets help break the cycle of poverty. Ironically, many government policies actually discourage low-income Americans from building their savings, and a full 7.7 percent of Americans do not have a checking or savings account, with many more not fully connected to the financial system. To provide pathways out of poverty, we believe government policies should help connect low-income Americans with the financial system and with flexible savings products.  There are still relatively few organizations engaged in efforts to enact asset building policies, and even less with any grassroots capacity. This gives RESULTS a unique opportunity to make a difference.

Last year, we launched a multi-year campaign to enact federal legislation that creates progressive asset-based programs with a focus on the Saver’s Bonus. The Saver’s Bonus would provide a simple and flexible opportunity for millions of low-income taxpayers to begin saving at tax time. Essentially, the Saver’s Bonus allows low-income taxpayers to create savings accounts, with a dollar-for-dollar match on a portion of their tax refund, right on the tax form. Of all the asset building policies, the Saver’s Bonus stands out because it uses the existing tax system and moment of opportunity to save (while filing taxes), and provides a safe and flexible product to attract families often nervous about their financial future.

Campaign Plan and Current Status

Because iof the upcoming elections and the impending expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts in December, there will be a major and likely heated debate over tax policy in 2012. RESULTS' 2012 Economic Opportunity Campaign focuses on, in the short-term, protecting the EITC and CTC by ensuring that the 2009 expansions are made permanent. In the long-term, we will continue to educate lawmakers about low-income asset development and the Saver’s Bonus with the hope of enacting the Saver's Bonus as a part of major tax reform in the next 3-5 years. At the start of the year, we will support all of our RESULTS groups connect with their local VITA (volunteer tax preparation) sites, in order to help connect directly to low-income taxpayers who are directly impacted by our 2012 campaign priorities. In addition, we will strategize ways that RESULTS work highlighting wealth and income inequality might foster connections to the Occupy movement as well as offer opportunities to connect with many other social justice advocates locally. For more details and updates, see our Recent Developments in Economic Opportunity page.  

Early Childhood Development: Smart Investments in the Early Years

Goal: Protect and substantially increase funding for Head Start, Early Head Start and child care

Why This Campaign Is Important

RESULTS has been a long time advocate of quality early childhood development policies. Research shows that children who participate in a quality program during their preschool years are better prepared to learn, have higher self-esteem, and possess more developed social skills when they start kindergarten. RESULTS strongly supports increased investments in Head Start, a federally funded preschool program that provides comprehensive services to low-income children and their parents, and Early Head Start, a child development program for pregnant women and low-income families with infants and toddlers. We also advocate for investments for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) which provides child care assistance to low-income families and provides critical funds to states to help them improve the quality of child care. Unfortunately, Head Start serves less than 50 percent of eligible preschoolers, Early Head Start serves less than 5 percent of all eligible families, and CCDBG serves only one out of seven eligible children.

In 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Congress allocated an additional $2 billion in funding for Head Start/Early Head Start and an additional $2 billion for CCDBG. These were the largest single funding increases in the programs' history. From this funding, 7,000 new Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms were opened and an additional 200,000 low-income children and their families received assistance for child care expenses. In 2011, our primary U.S. poverty campaign was to ensure that the ARRA expansions for Head Start and child care remained in place. Unfortunately, in early 2011, the House of Representatives targeted Head Start and child care for deep cuts as they worked to finalize the already overdue FY 2011 budget. Had those cuts been enacted, 360,000 low-income children and their families would have lost Head Start or child care services. RESULTS volunteers, along with our allies, dove into action and strongly pushed back against these cuts. As a result, the final FY 2011 budget, which passed in April, included a $340 million increase in funding for Head Start and Early Head Start, ensuring that current enrollment was maintained. CCDBG received a $100 million increase, which preserved some but not all the slots created under ARRA.

RESULTS has continued to advocate for investments in early childhood development in this tough budget environment, and with success. On December 16, 2011, House and Senate negotiators finalized an "omnibus" spending bill to complete the FY 2012 budget. Because of our and our allies' efforts, Head Start, Early Head Start, and the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) — each saw- a small increase in funding (Head Start/Early Head Start will see an increase of $409 million over last year and CCDBG will see an increase of $55 million). This will ensure that all of the Head Start slots available for low-income children, including those created under ARRA, are maintained. It will also ensure that child care assistance is available for millions of low-income families. The House passed the measure 296-121 and the Senate 67-32.

Maintainin Head Start and child care funding levels in both the FY 2011 and FY 2012 budgets is a significant victory for RESULTS volunteers and early childhood advocates around the country. 2011 was a year dominated by the deficit-reduction debate, where almost all domestic programs were under attack, including Head Start and child care services. However, RESULTS volunteers were not deterred and repeatedly made the case for early learning in at least 50 face-to-face lobby meetings with members of Congress, calls, letters, e-mails, and at least 56 print media pieces. In the end, their hard work paid off.

Campaign Plan and Current Status

While we will shift our primary focus for 2012 to our economic opportunity campaign (see above), RESULTS will still continue to work on our early childhood campaign with approximately 30-40 percent of our total staff and volunteer time. Our 2012 campaign will focus on the annual appropriations (part of the "Labor HHS" bill), and we're interested in focusing on the needs of infants and toddlers, working to make sure that the funding gains made in the last few years are not lost. We'll also, at least on the staff level, remain engaged in strategy discussions focused on the upcoming reauthorizations of Head Start and CCDBG since we are concerned about proposals to dismantle or undermine the programs that may surface in the next Congress. Many of our local groups made connections to local Head Start programs in 2011, and we’ll support them to deepen their connections to local programs and families in 2012. For more details, see our Recent Developments in Early Childhood Development Policies page.

Other Critical Policy Issues We’re Monitoring in 2012

Protecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and Medicaid

In fall 2011, the House and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairs developed recommendations for $23 billion/10 years in cuts to agriculture programs with the hopes that the Super Committee, tasked with finding over $1 trillion in budget savings, would include a fast-track Farm Bill reauthorization in any agreement they reached. A summary of the proposed cuts included $4 billion/10 years cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). Even though Super Committee did not produce a deal, Congress might take up a free-standing Farm Bill reauthorization in 2012. If SNAP funding is seriously threatened, RESULTS may choose to focus on this issue for 1-2 months.

Similarly, if there is a serious threat to health safety net programs and in particular, we will engage in actions in 2012 to protect health coverage (through Medicaid, children's health coverage, and Medicare) and access (through community health centers) for millions of Americans living in poverty.

Grassroots Health and Expansion Campaign

In 2011, RESULTS volunteers hosted 37 of the To Catch a Dollar screenings on March 31 (and, in the case of Santa Fe, April 1). Our activists got a chance to talk with hundreds of moviegoers about RESULTS and now are working with dozens of them who are interested in getting involved with our work to create the political will to end poverty here in the US and around the world. As a part of the To Catch a Dollar campaign, we hosted three webinars and got broader visibility with the domestic microenterprise community.

While we don’t have any similar opportunities already in the works for 2012, we will deepen our outreach with several outreach-focused monthly actions and conference calls with our groups, making outreach a priority coordinated action rather than something groups squeeze in during busy legislative work. As a staff, we will work to expand our network, particularly in the New England states and on college and university campuses (i.e. our Campus for Change program), and in other target areas based on key policymakers or strategic alliances.

This page was last updated on January 5, 2012.