Advocacy Update: Urge Senators to Extend TANF ECF
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Advocacy Update | September 20, 2010
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Thank Your Senators for Joining the TANF ECF Sign-On Letter, Push for Extension ASAP
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Yesterday, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) submitted a sign-on letter with 30 of his colleagues to Senate leaders. The letter urged leaders to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) before it expires on September 30.
Thank your senators for signing the letter, and urge them to work with Senate leaders to make sure an ECF extension passes Congress ASAP. Ask your senators to demonstrate their support for extending the ECF, which has subsidized an estimated 250,000 jobs across the country.
What You Can Do
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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.
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Urge their boss to personally tell Senate leaders that this is a priority for their constituents, and that ECF should be extended ASAP. If your senators signed the letter, thank them for joining. You can find out if your senators signed by clicking here.
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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 families and children falling into poverty due to the recession. According to census figures released this week, the U.S. poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent in 2009, up from 13.2 percent in 2008.
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.
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