FW: New McKinney Sign-On Letter - Help Needed ASAP!
Christine Johansen
From: Amanda Krusemark [mailto:AKrus...@NAEH.org]
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 10:38 AM
To: Amanda Krusemark
Cc: Catherine Seif
Subject: New McKinney Sign-On Letter - Help Needed ASAP!
Dear McKinney Campaign Advocates,
The House HUD Appropriations Subcommittee recently announced that Representatives could submit “programmatic requests” (which are just requests from Members of Congress for specific funding levels for federal programs) for fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations. These requests are given a LOT of weight by the Appropriations Committees. Because last year’s budget took so long to finish, Congress is behind on FY 2012 and is moving quickly to catch up. So, these programmatic requests are due next Friday, May 20.
To make things easier on her colleagues, Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI) is circulating a congressional sign-on letter requesting about $2.4 billion for HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs in FY 2012. We need YOUR help to get as many Representatives’ signatures as possible on that letter! Joining the sign-on letter will be given equal weight as submitting a programmatic request for $2.4 billion for McKinney-Vento, so either method of support would be great.
All of this means that the next week or so is VERY critical! We need to pull out ALL of the stops to get as many Representatives to support this funding level as possible. Here’s how:
- Contact the housing staff person in your Representatives’ Washington, DC offices RIGHT AWAY. Use the attached sample talking points and/or sample letter as a guide.
- If you aren’t sure who handles housing issues, ask me or Kate Seif (cs...@naeh.org) for help.
- Ask the staff person if his/her boss will join Rep. Moore’s sign-on letter. If they say…
- YES: say great! They should contact Andrew Stevens in Rep. Moore’s office at Andrew....@mail.house.gov to join the letter.
- NO: Ask if they would be willing to submit a FY 2012 programmatic request to fund HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs at the level requested by the President (about $2.4 billion).
- MAYBE: Ask when you can follow up on your request to find out what decision was made.
- Tell us what you learn! Just shoot a short email to me or Kate Seif (cs...@naeh.org) with the name of the office you contacted and what their response was.
I can’t express enough how URGENT it is that we contact as MANY Representatives as possible as SOON as possible. It is always easier to impact the outcome earlier on in the process, so this is our best chance. We’ll have more opportunities, but if we can have a good showing in the next two weeks, it will dramatically increase our chance of getting the substantial boost for McKinney-Vento programs that we need to more fully implement the HEARTH Act.
A Note about the Current Funding Environment
Due to the current focus on cutting spending, some policymakers may be reluctant to join the public list of signatories for this letter, which calls for an increase in spending. However, they might strongly support McKinney-Vento programs and want to work behind the scenes to increase funding for McKinney-Vento by submitting a more private programmatic request. Other offices might say that they cannot join sign-on letters because they sit on the Appropriations Committee (though some Appropriations Committee members do join sign-on letters) – again, a good alternative would be for them to submit a programmatic request. Either method of support is great!
Thank you so much to those that have already sent letters to their Members of Congress. Remember that if you have sent letters or made calls, please let us know! We strongly encourage you to keep sending! Just remember to use the new version attached here when contacting your House Members. Let me know if you have ANY questions about what to do or who to contact.
Thanks!
Amanda
Amanda Krusemark
Program and Policy Associate
National Alliance to End Homelessness
1518 K Street NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005