Advocacy Update: TANF ECF Sign-On Letter - Deadline Approaching
|
Advocacy Update | September 10, 2010
|
|
|
|
Deadline Approaches for TANF ECF Senate Sign-On Letter
|
Last week, Senator Kerry (D-MA) began circulating a sign-on letter to his colleagues in the Senate urging Senate leaders to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) before it expires on September 30.The deadline for senators to join the sign-on letter is this coming Wednesday, September 15 at noon ET.
Urge your senators to join the letter to demonstrate their support for extending the ECF, which has subsidized an estimated 250,000 jobs across the country.
What You Can Do
-
Call your senators and ask to speak to the person who works on welfare issues. Senators' phone numbers can be found by calling the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121.
-
Ask the staff members to urge their boss to join Senator Kerry's sign-on letter, if they haven't already. You can find out if they have already signed on by clicking here. If your senator has already joined the letter, ask the staff member to thank his/her boss.
-
Senators interested in joining the sign-on letter should contact Senator Kerry's office through Alison Bonebrake at
Alison_Bonebrake@kerry.senate.gov
.
Key Talking Points
The ECF was part of the Recovery Act passed in early 2009, and it is designed to help states deal with the increasing number of people on TANF due to the recession. ECF dollars have helped states:
- provide cash assistance to low-income families;
- provide short-term rent assistance to families experiencing a housing crisis; and
- create 250,000 subsidized employment opportunities nationally, many of which will end on September 30 if Congress does not act to extend the funding.
Click here for a state-by-state breakdown of how the funds have been spent.
|
|
BUILDING
POLITICAL WILL
|
The Alliance works collaboratively with its local, state, and national partners to advance policies and programs that prevent and end homelessness.
|
| CONTACT US |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
