Domestic Weekly Update April 6, 2010
New and Urgent in This Week’s Update
Latest from Washington, DC
Organizational Updates
Join National Conference Call THIS Saturday, April 10, 12:30 pm ETJoin the RESULTS’ April domestic monthly conference call this Saturday, April 10, at 12:30 pm ET. Our guest this month will be Debbie Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs in Washington, DC. CHN, of which RESULTS is a member, is an alliance of national organizations working together to promote public policies that address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable populations. Debbie came to CHN as its new executive director in June of 2003. Prior to coming to CHN, Debbie served for nine years as director of the Family Income division of the Children’s Defense Fund, where she worked on policy strategies to lift children and their families out of poverty. Just yesterday, Debbie had an article published on the HuffingtonPost on unemployment benefits. Debbie will be discussing how incredible a leap forward health care reform is for low-income individuals and families. She will also discuss details about efforts to protect and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit this year, as part of our Economic Opportunity campaign. On the call, we will also be celebrating our victory on health reform. We hope you will volunteer your favorite stories from the reform effort during our shares section on the call. Furthermore, during our Roll Call section of the call we want to acknowledge all the hard work you have done to help pass reform. Because the answers may take more than a few minutes to tally, here are the questions we will ask:
Be thinking about these questions before Saturday’s call and have your best estimates ready during the Roll Call section. TAKE ACTION: Coordinate and gather with your group this Saturday for the national conference call at 12:30 pm ET. The call-in number is (888) 409-6709. Once connected to the operator, ask for the RESULTS National Conference call. Plan to call in no later than 12:27pm ET to give time to the operator to connect you with the call. Keep Trying to Get Face-to-Face Meetings during Spring RecessCongress is on recess this week and will reconvene on April 12. If you have not done so already, try to set up face-to-face meetings with representatives and senators while they are still back home. This is a great opportunity to show your appreciation for health reform passing and also lay the groundwork for our next campaign Economic Opportunity for All. Many members of Congress are also holding public meetings and town hall events this week. If you cannot meet face-to-face with them, try to attend one of these events and ask a question. See our Activist Milestones to help prep you for a ton hall event. You can also use our online laser talks to help prepare your question. TAKE ACTION: Contact the schedulers for your representatives and senators to set up a face-to-face meeting while they are back home. See our Activist Milestone: Meet Face-to-Face with Your Member of Congress for tips on scheduling and planning your meeting. You can also use our online alert to help set up your meetings. Be sure to customize your request to the subjects you plan to cover. Once you get a meeting scheduled, please contact Meredith Dodson (dodson@results.org) or Jos Linn (jlinn@results.org) to help you plan your meeting. Also, if you cannot get a meeting, look for public appearances and town halls in your area to attend. If you cannot schedule a meeting and there are no public events in you area, use our call-in alert to make thank your calls. Help Keep Families Out of Poverty with Low-income Tax Credits (April Action)Now that the health reform bill has been signed into law, RESULTS Domestic is shifting its focus to another poverty-reduction campaign, Economic Opportunity for All. So why not start off our campaign with a quiz. Do you know what the largest poverty-reduction program in the United States is? The SNAP program? Medicaid? TANF? Those would be good guesses but incorrect. The answer is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that in 2009, the EITC lifted 6.6 million people out of poverty, have of them children. The EITC lifts more children out of poverty than any other program or combination of programs. Coupled with the Child Tax Credit (CTC), provides low and middle-income families a tax credit to help with the cost of raising children, the tax code can be a powerful tool in helping lift and keep people out of poverty. In 2009, the EITC and CTC were both expanded to provide benefits to more low-income families. The EITC was expanded to help low-income workers who marry and families with three or more children. It is estimated that 7 million people have benefitted from these changes, including keeping 3 million people out of poverty. In addition, the CTC was expanded to include millions more low-income children. Compared to 2007 law, 6 million new low-income children and their families now get the CTC and 20 million more get a larger refund from their credit. Unfortunately, these expansions, which were made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), are set to expire at the end of this year. This could be devastating to low-income families around the country. Just allowing the CTC expansion to risks causing 600,000 children to fall back into poverty. We cannot let this happen. Therefore, the focus of our Economic Opportunity will be on making the ARRA provisions permanent. In a still struggling economy with millions still out of work, we cannot let these provisions expire and cut the knees out from under low-income families just as there are standing up. If the opportunity arises, we will also look to expand these credits further so more low-income workers and families can benefit. Considering the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax benefits heaped on the wealthy over the last ten years, it is time that average, hard working families got a break. TAKE ACTION: Take the April Action. Write your representatives and senators and urge them to talk to House and Senate leaders about the EITC and CTC. Tell them to make the ARRA expansions of these credits permanent so that low-income Americans don’t lose their benefits at the end of this year. Millions of Americans are counting on them to do the right thing — making tax policy must work for everyone, not just those already on top. Come Celebrate 30 Years of RESULTS in Washington at the RESULTS International ConferenceOnline registration for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference is open! The conference will be held June 20–22 in Washington DC at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center. The theme for this year’s conference is Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future — 30 years of RESULTS. We promise another inspiring, exciting and enjoyable conference this year as we look at the remarkable accomplishments of RESULTS volunteers through the years while also looking ahead to create a future free of poverty. Already we have some exciting guests lined up to speak, including long-time environmental activist Lester Brown and the number two person in Senate leadership, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL). Be sure to reserve your spot today for this year’s conference! TAKE ACTION: Register for the 2010 RESULTS/REF International Conference TODAY! Then urge others in your group and your community to register as well. This year’s conference will be a great event and one you won’t want to miss. We will have more about the conference on Saturday’s national conference call. Quick NewsUnemployment Benefits Expire . . . Again. From CHN: In the next week, more than 212,000 jobless people will lose unemployment benefits because the Senate failed to act, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project. The Senate leadership, which tried to take up the extension, has said they will make the benefits retroactive when the Senate finally acts. That is undeniably a good thing, but in the week or two people will be without their $300–400 weekly benefit checks, it’s likely that some will run out of food. Also, some, once denied benefits, will not understand that they are only temporarily ineligible, and may not come back to seek assistance after Congress acts. AnnouncementsUpcoming Washington State Fundraising Events. There will be two exciting RESULTS fundraising events on the Seattle area in April and May. The Puget Sound Benefit for RESULTS will be held April 27. Keynote speaker will be Mary Njoroge, Kenya’s director of basic education. Then on Sunday, May 23, at 1:00 pm PT, the Kitsap, WA, Group will be holding a Fundraising Luncheon, with keynote speaker Megan J. Miller, Director of Development and Communications, Indiana-Kenya Partnership/USAID-AMPATH, Wishard Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana. If you will be in the Seattle area in April or May, please plan to attend. Here are more details for each event:
Check Out these Southern California RESULTS Events. If you live in southern California or know people in that area, please see the RESULTS Social website set up by our wonderful California volunteer and Regional Coordinator Kara Stewart. It lists number of upcoming RESULTS meetings and events in areas like Diamond Bar, Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Silverlake, Orange County, San Fernando Valley, and San Diego. This a great opportunity to learn more about RESULTS and to meet other RESULTS volunteers in these areas. Please Submit Your Group Planning Forms. Please complete your Group Planning Form and e-mail, mail or fax a copy to Meredith Dodson at the RESULTS DC office. Upcoming Events(Click to see a complete calendar) March 29–April 12: Congressional Spring Recess. April 7 and April 21: RESULTS/Friends of Marianne Williamson training calls, 10:00 pm ET, (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. These calls are designed to introduce RESULTS to attendees of last month’s Sister Giant Conference in Los Angeles and other friends of RESULTS Board member Marianne Williamson (call dates also include March 10, March 24; you can listen to a recordings of the March 10 and March 24 calls here). To attend the call, RSVP to Meredith Dodson. April 10: RESULTS national conference call 12:30 pm ET. Guest speaker: Debbie Weinstein of the Coalition on Human Needs, (888) 409-6709. April 27: Puget Sound fundraising event, 7:00 pm PT. May 23: Kitsap, WA, group fundraising luncheon, 1:00 pm PT. April–May: New Activist Orientation. Four sessions: April 5, April 19, May 3, May 17. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. This is for people new to RESULTS as an introduction to our organization and our work. Contact Lisa Marchal to sign up and for more information. June 20–22: RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference, Washington Marriott Hotel, Washington, DC. Register online TODAY! RESULTS Contact InformationMain Office: (p) (202) 783-7100, (f) (202) 783-2818, 750 First Street NE, Suite 1040, Washington DC 20002. Domestic Legislative and Grassroots Support Staff: Meredith Dodson, x116 (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.
New and Urgent in This Week’s Update
Latest from Washington, DC
Organizational Updates
Join National Conference Call THIS Saturday, April 10, 12:30 pm ETJoin the RESULTS’ April domestic monthly conference call this Saturday, April 10, at 12:30 pm ET. Our guest this month will be Debbie Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs in Washington, DC. CHN, of which RESULTS is a member, is an alliance of national organizations working together to promote public policies that address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable populations. Debbie came to CHN as its new executive director in June of 2003. Prior to coming to CHN, Debbie served for nine years as director of the Family Income division of the Children’s Defense Fund, where she worked on policy strategies to lift children and their families out of poverty. Just yesterday, Debbie had an article published on the HuffingtonPost on unemployment benefits. Debbie will be discussing how incredible a leap forward health care reform is for low-income individuals and families. She will also discuss details about efforts to protect and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit this year, as part of our Economic Opportunity campaign. On the call, we will also be celebrating our victory on health reform. We hope you will volunteer your favorite stories from the reform effort during our shares section on the call. Furthermore, during our Roll Call section of the call we want to acknowledge all the hard work you have done to help pass reform. Because the answers may take more than a few minutes to tally, here are the questions we will ask:
Be thinking about these questions before Saturday’s call and have your best estimates ready during the Roll Call section. TAKE ACTION: Coordinate and gather with your group this Saturday for the national conference call at 12:30 pm ET. The call-in number is (888) 409-6709. Once connected to the operator, ask for the RESULTS National Conference call. Plan to call in no later than 12:27pm ET to give time to the operator to connect you with the call. Keep Trying to Get Face-to-Face Meetings during Spring RecessCongress is on recess this week and will reconvene on April 12. If you have not done so already, try to set up face-to-face meetings with representatives and senators while they are still back home. This is a great opportunity to show your appreciation for health reform passing and also lay the groundwork for our next campaign Economic Opportunity for All. Many members of Congress are also holding public meetings and town hall events this week. If you cannot meet face-to-face with them, try to attend one of these events and ask a question. See our Activist Milestones to help prep you for a ton hall event. You can also use our online laser talks to help prepare your question. TAKE ACTION: Contact the schedulers for your representatives and senators to set up a face-to-face meeting while they are back home. See our Activist Milestone: Meet Face-to-Face with Your Member of Congress for tips on scheduling and planning your meeting. You can also use our online alert to help set up your meetings. Be sure to customize your request to the subjects you plan to cover. Once you get a meeting scheduled, please contact Meredith Dodson (dodson@results.org) or Jos Linn (jlinn@results.org) to help you plan your meeting. Also, if you cannot get a meeting, look for public appearances and town halls in your area to attend. If you cannot schedule a meeting and there are no public events in you area, use our call-in alert to make thank your calls. Help Keep Families Out of Poverty with Low-income Tax Credits (April Action)Now that the health reform bill has been signed into law, RESULTS Domestic is shifting its focus to another poverty-reduction campaign, Economic Opportunity for All. So why not start off our campaign with a quiz. Do you know what the largest poverty-reduction program in the United States is? The SNAP program? Medicaid? TANF? Those would be good guesses but incorrect. The answer is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that in 2009, the EITC lifted 6.6 million people out of poverty, have of them children. The EITC lifts more children out of poverty than any other program or combination of programs. Coupled with the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which provides low and middle-income families a tax credit to help with the cost of raising children, the tax code can be a powerful tool in helping lift and keep people out of poverty. In 2009, the EITC and CTC were both expanded to provide benefits to more low-income families. The EITC was expanded to help low-income workers who marry and families with three or more children. It is estimated that 7 million people have benefitted from these changes, including keeping 3 million people out of poverty. In addition, the CTC was expanded to include millions more low-income children. Compared to 2007 law, 6 million new low-income children and their families now get the CTC and 20 million more get a larger refund from their credit. Unfortunately, these expansions, which were made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), are set to expire at the end of this year. This could be devastating to low-income families around the country. Just allowing the CTC expansion to expire risks causing 600,000 children to fall back into poverty. We cannot let this happen. Therefore, the focus of our Economic Opportunity will be on making the ARRA provisions permanent. In a still struggling economy with millions still out of work, we cannot let these provisions expire and cut the knees out from under low-income families just as there are standing up. If the opportunity arises, we will also look to expand these credits further so more low-income workers and families can benefit. Considering the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax benefits heaped on the wealthy over the last ten years, it is time that average, hard working families got a break. TAKE ACTION: Take the April Action. Write your representatives and senators and urge them to talk to House and Senate leaders about the EITC and CTC. Tell them to make the ARRA expansions of these credits permanent so that low-income Americans don’t lose their benefits at the end of this year. Millions of Americans are counting on them to do the right thing — making tax policy must work for everyone, not just those already on top. Come Celebrate 30 Years of RESULTS in Washington at the RESULTS International ConferenceOnline registration for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference is open! The conference will be held June 20–22 in Washington DC at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center. The theme for this year’s conference is Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future — 30 years of RESULTS. We promise another inspiring, exciting and enjoyable conference this year as we look at the remarkable accomplishments of RESULTS volunteers through the years while also looking ahead to create a future free of poverty. Already we have some exciting guests lined up to speak, including long-time environmental activist Lester Brown and the number two person in Senate leadership, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL). Be sure to reserve your spot today for this year’s conference! TAKE ACTION: Register for the 2010 RESULTS/REF International Conference TODAY! Then urge others in your group and your community to register as well. This year’s conference will be a great event and one you won’t want to miss. We will have more about the conference on Saturday’s national conference call. Quick NewsUnemployment Benefits Expire . . . Again. From CHN: In the next week, more than 212,000 jobless people will lose unemployment benefits because the Senate failed to act, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project. The Senate leadership, which tried to take up the extension, has said they will make the benefits retroactive when the Senate finally acts. That is undeniably a good thing, but in the week or two people will be without their $300–400 weekly benefit checks, it’s likely that some will run out of food. Also, some, once denied benefits, will not understand that they are only temporarily ineligible, and may not come back to seek assistance after Congress acts. AnnouncementsUpcoming Washington State Fundraising Events. There will be two exciting RESULTS fundraising events on the Seattle area in April and May. The Puget Sound Benefit for RESULTS will be held April 27. Keynote speaker will be Mary Njoroge, Kenya’s director of basic education. Then on Sunday, May 23, at 1:00 pm PT, the Kitsap, WA, Group will be holding a Fundraising Luncheon, with keynote speaker Megan J. Miller, Director of Development and Communications, Indiana-Kenya Partnership/USAID-AMPATH, Wishard Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana. If you will be in the Seattle area in April or May, please plan to attend. Here are more details for each event:
Check Out these Southern California RESULTS Events. If you live in southern California or know people in that area, please see the RESULTS Social website set up by our wonderful California volunteer and Regional Coordinator Kara Stewart. It lists number of upcoming RESULTS meetings and events in areas like Diamond Bar, Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Silverlake, Orange County, San Fernando Valley, and San Diego. This a great opportunity to learn more about RESULTS and to meet other RESULTS volunteers in these areas. Please Submit Your Group Planning Forms. Please complete your Group Planning Form and e-mail, mail or fax a copy to Meredith Dodson at the RESULTS DC office. Upcoming Events(Click to see a complete calendar) March 29–April 12: Congressional Spring Recess. April 7 and April 21: RESULTS/Friends of Marianne Williamson training calls, 10:00 pm ET, (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. These calls are designed to introduce RESULTS to attendees of last month’s Sister Giant Conference in Los Angeles and other friends of RESULTS Board member Marianne Williamson (call dates also include March 10, March 24; you can listen to a recordings of the March 10 and March 24 calls here). To attend the call, RSVP to Meredith Dodson. April 10: RESULTS national conference call 12:30 pm ET. Guest speaker: Debbie Weinstein of the Coalition on Human Needs, (888) 409-6709. April 27: Puget Sound fundraising event, 7:00 pm PT. May 23: Kitsap, WA, group fundraising luncheon, 1:00 pm PT. April–May: New Activist Orientation. Four sessions: April 5, April 19, May 3, May 17. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. This is for people new to RESULTS as an introduction to our organization and our work. Contact Lisa Marchal to sign up and for more information. June 20–22: RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference, Washington Marriott Hotel, Washington, DC. Register online TODAY! RESULTS Contact InformationMain Office: (p) (202) 783-7100, (f) (202) 783-2818, 750 First Street NE, Suite 1040, Washington DC 20002. Domestic Legislative and Grassroots Support Staff: Meredith Dodson, x116 (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. |