Corp for National and Community Service...Americorp serves the people!

The National League of Cities recently highlighted the important work of Americorp volunteers in our Cities. As this program continues to be under scrutiny during budget debates it is important for us to understand the significant local impact of the work that is done. Region 6 Voices for Action relies heavily on the Americorp staff at the Kalamazoo PRI to help maintain our network of communication!

Calling All Michigan Leaders for an Important Call on June 2nd!

The Coalition on Human Needs, in partnership with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, present this important drill-down call for influential Michigan leaders on Thursday, June 2nd at 12:00PM EST. Please read on for more information about this call and please forward this notice to others in your state who should be included:
Dear Michigan Advocacy Leader,

To help social service providers, non-profit organizations and religious leaders engage in advocacy around the Federal budget, the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Coalition on Human Needs, as part of the SAVE for All Campaign, are coordinating a conference call with advocacy leaders in Michigan on June 2nd (Thursday) at 12:00pm (eastern time).  The Friends Committee on National Legislation and the Coalition on Human Needs are led and supported by affiliates, constituents, and volunteers across the country who are committed to protecting programs that support low-income families. 

The call will last for less than one hour and will focus on the following:

* Update on the current situation (current budget negotiations for FY 2012, and proposals for dealing with the debt ceiling,  including a balanced budget amendment, and various kinds of spending caps)
* What’s at stake for Michigan in these negotiations?
* What’s happening in Michigan?
* What else can we do together? (Sign-on Letter, Calls, In-District Meetings, Editorials, etc.)
 * Q & A

It is important that members of your organization in Michigan be represented on this call, and we hope you will be able to join us.  If you would like to participate, please RSVP to Ruth Flower at flower@fcnl.org.  

In addition to the call on Tuesday, we would like to work with Michigan advocates to set up broad coalition meetings with Senator Stabenow to discuss budget issues. The meetings will likely take place in regional offices or over the phone. We’ll discuss how to organize these meetings on the June 2 call.  Before the Senate meetings, we would be happy to host a prep call with all participants. If you are unable to participate in next week’s call, but would be interested in participating in the meetings with Senator Stabenow or other opportunities, please e-mail Ruth Flower at flower@fcnl.org.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ruth Flower at flower@fcnl.org / (202) 903-2524.

Thank you very much, and we look forward to talking with you next week.
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Why should your organization be involved?

As you know, Michigan is still suffering greatly from the effects of the recession.  Michigan’s state budget includes deep funding cuts that affect many of the programs we all work on and rely on, including education, employment, health care, and income supports.

But another shoe is waiting to drop -- the impact of cuts in the federal budget.

The SAVE for All Campaign has been organizing conference calls with networks of leaders in key states, to get their advice on dealing with their Senators, to hear about their in-state advocacy efforts, and to see if our national coalitions can strengthen that work in any way.  The goal is to strengthen the resolve of key senators to advocate for and protect programs for low-income people and families.

As a member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Stabenow is a key player in the budget negotiations.  The Finance Committee, in particular, will decide whether there will be cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and various income security programs, and whether there will be additional revenues on the table.  Under the House budget, Families USA estimates that Michigan would lose almost $64 billion in federal funding over the next 10 years, just for health care programs:  Medicare, Medicaid, and the new premium tax credits to help people by insurance.  Senator Stabenow is generally supportive of these and other programs that help low income families, but is also very concerned about the federal debt.

We in the SAVE for All Campaign believe that deficit spending can be brought under control, with a combination of judicious spending cuts that protect low-income programs and a fair revenue plan that closes tax loopholes favoring wealthy individuals and corporations.  But to get to that result, we need a stronger commitment from Senator Stabenow to protect low income families and individuals.