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INTRODUCTION Welcome Moderator: Ian Crawford Housekeeping All lines will be on mute To ask a question, please use the chat function Please fill out the short 5 question survey following the webinar
Today s Presenters Jennifer Ney Managing Director Voices for National Service Alan Lopatin President Ledge Counsel Inc. NSCA Board of Directors Jerry Saavedra Field Director ServiceNation Brandon Bodor Executive Director Serve Illinois Kathy Shepard President Kansas Association of Senior Corps Dir. Nicole Schmidt State Director, Ohio ServiceNation
Let s Set the Stage Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009 And to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations, I ask this Congress to send me [the Serve America Act,] the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country Senator Edward Kennedy. - President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009 Passed swiftly with bipartisan support. Introduced, debated, and signed into law within First 100 Days Authorized the largest expansion of national service since the Great Depression Focused service on national priorities: Education, Health, Clean Energy, Veterans and Military Families, Economic Opportunity and Natural Disasters
Roller Coaster for National Service In 2009-10, New Vision for National Service Begins to Take Effect Funding for service in ARRA. Congress approved 29% increase for CNCS in FY10 President Obama requested another 23% increase in FY11 Since FY11, Congressman Paul Ryan has produced Budget Resolutions that recommend closing CNCS. Between 2011-13, $154M in funding cuts eliminate service positions and harm service delivery Learn and Serve America eliminated AmeriCorps cut by $53M: 18K positions eliminated RSVP cut by 24%: displaced over 113K senior volunteers State Commissions cut by more than 55% In FY14, Congress began to reinvest in national service; restoring 6% of the cuts Task Force on Expanding National Service The blue line represents federal funding levels enacted by Congress. The red line is the President s budget request, which reached a high of $1.4B in FY11 and has been scaled back to $1.05B in FY15. President s FY15 proposed budget would eliminate another 200,000 senior service positions
Status of FY15 Budget for CNCS House Budget Resolutionassumes draconian cuts; calls for eliminationof CNCS for 4 th year in a row President s budgetcalls for $1.05 billion for CNCS, proposes to cut Senior Corps funding by $71 million and restructure programs. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee provides$1.065billion for CNCS and rejects the Administration s Senior Corps cuts and proposal to restructure. Next Steps:Current fiscal year expires September 30. Congress likely to pass a CR at least through the November elections. Advocacy remains critically important. The budget process is like a dance: long with lots of complicated steps
OUR RESPONSE SO FAR Successful Mayors Day of Recognition of National Service, Mayors Letter of Support, and US Conference of Mayors Resolution. Dear Colleague Letters to Committee Chairs in the House and Senate National Service in Your Neighborhood: Local meetings and visits with key members of Congress Secured national and local op-eds, letters to the editor and articles DC meetings with every member of Appropriations Committee Twitter Town Hall with Sen. Chris Coons and other social media engagement New members of the National Service Congressional Caucus
OUR RESPONSE SO FAR
CASE STUDY: NSCA RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT S FY15 BUDGET Presented a united front against proposed funding cuts to Senior Corps Group visits to the Hill Constituent asks in Districts/States Engaged all stakeholders
WHY IS ENGAGING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL SO EFFECTIVE?
CASE STUDY: Rep. Denny Rehberg Program Directors in Montana engaged the Congressman locally Nurtured the relationship on Capitol Hill Personal stories and local connections
THE WHAT: WHAT ARE THE OUTCOMES WE ARE SEEKING BY ENGAGING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS?
Cultivate Champions
Educate ALL Members of Congress Educate! All Politics are local. We must make tangible the impact national service is having in their district.
Cultivate Future Leaders
THE HOW: HOW DO WE EDUCATE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS & CULTIVATE SERVICE CHAMPIONS?
Taking MOC s on a Site Visit
Meeting with Members of Congress
National Service In Your Neighborhood
Writing & Calling
Attending Town Halls
Engagement through Local Media
Engaging through Social Media
Petitions
5,861 Florida Signatures Delivered to Sen. Marco Rubio
How do we know if we are making a difference? How do we know if our efforts are successful?
Member of Congress Take Concrete Action Visit a national service organization to see their impact firsthand Send a press release announcing a CNCS grant Join the National Service Caucus Sign onto an annual Dear Colleague Letter in support of funding Talk to their leadership about CNCS funding Give a floor speech Pen an op-ed Add CNCS to their DO NOT CUT list
Case Study: Kansas Engagement with Sen. Moran Kansas Association of Senior Corps Directors recognized the opportunity to connect with Senator Moran. Directors began conversations on appropriate ways to engage Senator Moran about Sr. Corps Programs in Kansas. Put together a fact sheet for all Kansas programs. Got the information out to Senator Moran at as many of his Listening Tour stops at possible.
Sen. Moran Engagement Cont. Presented the same message to Senator Moran, but used examples from our own programs. Director Connie Stewart took advantage of an opportunity: Smoky Hills Public Television s Conversations with Senator Jerry Moran. Spread the word about Senator Moran s positive comments on the show. Developed the idea for a Letter to the Editor. Received calls from Senator Moran s office.
Best Practices and Tips for Meeting with Members of Congress
Tip 1: Form a local team
Tip 2: Have a clear and specific ask. And Follow Up!
Tip 3: Persistence Pays Off
Tip 4: Utilize Your State Commission
The State Commission Model Why Commissions? 42 U.S.C. 12638 "42 U.S.C. 12638 "SEC. 178. (a) EXISTENCE REQUIRED-(1) STATE COMMISSION. Commissions provide statewide infrastructure to enable service delivery, collaboration... and expansion. Commission Facts 53Commissions representing states & territories 1,200Governor-appointed Commissioners cross-sector leaders in service, philanthropic, education, and business Administer two-thirdsof all AmeriCorps programs, equating to more than $250M from federal funds, in addition to the more than $100M leveraged locally
IN CONCLUSION
WE WANT YOU AT THE TABLE
20 th Anniversary of AmeriCorps September 12, 2014 www.nationalservice.gov/americorps20 #AmeriCorps20
Welcome Reception: Monday, September 15 Voices for National Service Capitol Hill Visits: Tuesday, September 16 Thursday, September 18 We will accommodate participant obligations associated with the concurrent AmeriCorps Grantee Symposium.
Join the ServiceNation Coalition at www.servicenation.org/coalition
National Service Regional Training Events Membership Individuals National Partners (national directs and partners) State Service Partners (Senior Corps, AmeriCorps state service commission grantees, Volunteer Centers) State Service Commissions Mission: Advance national service, volunteerism, and the national network of state service commissions www.statecommissions.org statecommission
Visit www.nscatogether.org for more information
Visit www.narsvpd.org for more information
The NAFGPD Board will meet in Washington D.C. September 29 October 1. Please contact the Board through www.nafgpd.orgwith questions that we can present to CNCS at that time.
Q & A