Domestic Weekly Update June 1, 2010
New and Urgent in This Week’s Update
Latest from Washington, DC
Organizational Updates
Set Up Face-to-Face Meetings with Members of Congress (June Action preview)Over the last several months, we have taken several different actions around protecting and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). In April, we wrote letters to members of Congress urging them to make the 2009 expansions of the EITC and CTC permanent, and followed up with phone calls to congressional tax aides. In May, we shifted to a local focus by reaching out to Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) coordinators to learn more about how the EITC and CTC are benefitting people in our own communities. Now it is time to take our work to the next level and talk directly with decision-makers about the importance of these credits. Meeting face-to-face with members of Congress is key to developing the relationships we need to influence policy. Congressional offices hear from all kinds of constituencies on many different issues. However, most advocates do not take the time to set up in-person meetings with their members of Congress to discuss their positions. This is what makes RESULTS unique in its advocacy. When face-to-face meetings happen, for that moment, your issue is at the top of the list. This is how policy is made and changed — persistent, targeted action that gets your legislators’ attention. You now have the tools to make the case for economic opportunity with your members of Congress. You know the policy requests and you have the local data and stories to back it up. Now make the best use of that information by scheduling face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress (MoC) to discuss it. If you are attending the RESULTS International Conference in Washington DC, June 20-22, please make sure to schedule face-to-face meetings with members of Congress during the conference (Lobby Day is June 22). In addition, plan to visit as many members of your congressional delegation as possible. Most offices are willing to meet with people from their home state, even if they are from another congressional district. If you are not attending the conference, request a face-to-face meeting with your representative and senators when they are back at home. Many members of Congress travel back to their home states on weekends. Also, Congress will be on recess July 5-9 for the July 4 recess. Finally, many members of Congress (especially in an election year like this one) hold public meetings or town halls when they are back home. While a sit down face-to-face meeting is preferable, asking them questions and getting them on the record on our issues is a good alternative. TAKE ACTION: Contact your local offices for your representatives and senators to set up a face-to-face meeting to discuss low-income tax credits, either this week or during their next visit back to your home state. Don’t be afraid to be persistent about getting a meeting; sometimes it takes several requests to get a face-to-face meeting at home. We will have more information to help you in the June Action sheet, which will be available on our website later this week. Also, ask your local MoC office if your members of Congress will be making any public appearances near you this week (and this summer) and plan to attend to ask a question. You can find local contact information for members of Congress on the Elected Officials page of the RESULTS website. Strengthen Your Advocacy Skills by Finishing May Strong with VITA Outreach (May Action)If you have not done so, please take the May Action. Contact a VITA site coordinator in your area and see if you can set up a meeting between him/her and your RESULTS group. The information and stories you can learn from these people will be invaluable in your meetings with members of Congress in Washington, DC and back home. Use the National Community Tax Coalition to get connected to a site near you. The action sheet has a link to the NCTC website, where you can click on a “Find a VITA site” button and it will take you to a quick form to fill out. Once NCTC has your information, they will send you an e-mail with a local VITA contact. House Passes Smaller Version of H.R.4213, Leaves Medicaid Funding OutOn May 28, the House passed H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, 215-204. The bill contains some provisions that will help American workers and low-income families make it a few extra months this year. These provisions include:
However, to reduce the cost of the bill because of deficit concerns by conservative Democrats in the House, the increased federal match for state Medicaid program (called FMAP), as well as the additional COBRA subsidy that helps unemployed workers keep their health insurance, were dropped from the bill. The removal of the FMAP provision is a serious blow to state Medicaid programs. If the increased federal dollars are not allocated, states will be forced to cut back their Medicaid programs other social service because of budget shortfalls. As an example, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported on its blog last week that “[w]ithout the extended Medicaid funding, Pennsylvania plans to cut funding for domestic violence prevention in half, eliminate all state funds for addressing substance abuse and homelessness, cut funding for child welfare by one-quarter, and cut payments to private hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors across the state — among other steps.” The Senate failed to act on the bill before leaving for the Memorial Day recess. It will take up the bill when it reconvenes next week, despite the fact that UI benefits will expire for millions of Americans tomorrow. International Conference UpdateAttend the Conference. It’s not too late to sign up the 2010 RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference. We are less than 3 weeks away for RESULTS’ biggest event of the year. Go to our International Conference page for registration information and conference details. Please Schedule Your Hill Meetings. If you are attending the conference, please make sure to request meetings with your representatives and senators as soon as possible. See our Activist Milestone: Meet Face-to-Face with Your Member of Congress for tips on scheduling and planning your meeting. You can also download and edit this sample letter to send to their office or use our online alert to help set up your meetings. In addition, Meredith Dodson has been speaking with group leaders and other conference attendees in preparation of more than 100 Hill meetings at the conference. If you do not have a meeting scheduled with Meredith, please send her some available dates and times to meet at: dodson@results.org. Let the RESULTS Staff Know About Your Hill Meetings. When you schedule your Hill meetings for the conference, please let Lisa Marchal know (lmarchal@results.org) the following info: 1) Name of member, and if it is a face-to-face, 2) the name of the staffer(s) that will be attending, 3) date, time, location, and who will be attending (include if this is a global, domestic, or joint meeting), and cell phone for key contact person. This information is to help with tracking all the meetings taking place at the conference. Lisa can also be contacted at (317) 489-9173. Help Send Volunteers to Our Conference. Every year, we use the Karen McQuillan Scholarship Fund to help those who need financial assistance in attending the International Conference. Whether or not you have registered for the conference, if you can make a donation so that financial constraints don’t keep passionate advocates from coming to our conference, we would appreciate your help. You can donate online or mail a check to our DC office (see address at end of this update) to RESULTS Educational Fund. In the comment box on the online form or the memo line of your check, please write “KMcQ Scholarship.” Furthermore, if you cannot donate money but could help by donating frequent flyer miles toward an airline ticket for a volunteer, please contact Girmay Zahilay (gzahilay@results.org). Invite Your Members of Congress to Capitol Hill Receptions. As part of the conference this year, we are holding both morning and evening receptions for members of Congress on June 22. The morning reception is 8:30-9:15 a.m. ET in Room 325 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The evening reception is 5:00–7:00 pm ET in the Caucus Room of the Cannon House Office Building. If you have not already, please invite your members of Congress to speak at either reception. The RESULTS website has resources including invitation templates to invite your members of Congress to speak. RESULTS Fundraising Update — July 31 Deadline Met!RESULTS Domestic continues its 2010 fundraising campaign and we have good news to report. Two weeks ago, we secured a $10,000 grant from a local foundation in Oklahoma to support our domestic anti-poverty efforts. Then last week RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter had the opportunity to talk with an anonymous donor who also plans to invest in our 2010 domestic grassroots work. With these commitments, we're now more than halfway to our $50,000 goal and have met our target of raising the first $25,000 by July 31. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who helped us get this far! Let’s build on this momentum by working over the next few months to reach our goal quickly and easily. Many other RESULTS groups are already researching local foundations and other donors who may be interested in our work. If you know of local foundations or large donors in your community who might be interested in funding RESULTS domestic poverty work, please contact Meredith Dodson (dodson@results.org) or Jos Linn (jlinn@results.org) to discuss next steps. Finally, if you would like to donate yourself to RESULTS Domestic in support of our U.S. poverty work, you can donate online or mail a check to our DC office (see address at the end of the update). Be sure to write “RESULTS Domestic” in the comment box on the online form or the memo line of your check. Thanks to all of you who continue to support our domestic poverty-reduction efforts. Quick NewsPlurality of Americans Want Health Reform Left Alone. A new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll shows that more Americans would keep health reform as is, rather than repeal certain portions of the new law. The poll asked respondents which parts of reform they would like to see repealed: the individual mandate, insurance company reforms, letting children stay insured until 26 years of age, expanding prescription drug coverage for seniors, or none of the above. 42 percent said that would not repeal any of these provisions. The next closest was the individual mandate at 30 percent. Many congressional candidates are using the repeal of health reform as their campaign platform; this poll shows that voters may not be receptive to that message. AnnouncementsListen to Recent Training Calls Online. If you were not able to participate in our recent Lobbying 101 or Researching Your Members of Congress training calls, you can now listen to them on the RESULTS website. These calls are great for anyone traveling to the International Conference this year or if you are preparing for a congressional meeting back home. Just click on the following links to listen: Lobby 101 training call; Researching Your Members of Congress training call. Upcoming Events(Click to see a complete calendar) May 31–June 4: Congressional Memorial Day recess. June 12: RESULTS Domestic National Conference Call, 12:30 p.m. ET. June 20–22: RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference, Washington Marriott Hotel, Washington, DC. July 10: Joint Domestic/Global RESULTS National Conference Call, 2:00 p.m. ET. RESULTS Contact InformationMain Office: (p) (202) 783-7100, (f) (202) 783-2818, 750 First Street NE, Suite 1040, Washington DC 20002. If mailing a donation to our DC office, please address the envelope to the attention of Cynthia Stancil. Domestic Legislative and Grassroots Support Staff: Meredith Dodson, (202) 783-7100, x.116 (dodson@results.org); Jos Linn, (515) 288-3622 (jlinn@results.org). The RESULTS Domestic Update is sent out every Tuesday over 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. |