Read our weekly RTS alert for the 2024 Legislative Session. This week we are looking at hunger and housing, encouraging support for HB 2794 and HB2815.

With tax season underway, urge our Senators to pass a bipartisan tax package that expands the Child Tax Credit!

The CTC passed the House! Read more about how to advocate for this instrumental policy as the Senate prepares to debate it

DATE CHANGE: Join us tonight for the launch of Bread’s newest advocacy campaign!

We celebrate the passage of an extension to the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the Farm Bill, which expired on September 30) until September 2024. Contacting Congress on Farm Bill measures will be a critical priority for faith-based advocates as negotiations come to the fore in 2024.

Join Bread for the World on Dec 8 for the launch of their newest Childhood Hunger Advocacy Campaign!

Help fight child poverty and hunger by urging congress to prioritize tax relief for low-income families.

ACTION ALERT: Urge the House not to cut WIC funding in the upcoming appropriations bill!

ACTION ALERT: Urge Congress to fully fund the WIC program in the upcoming Farm Bill.

Congress is preparing to reauthorize the Farm Bill in 2023. Each reauthorization provides an opportunity to improve or expand programs that ensure access to fresh and healthy food while addressing root causes of hunger.

Governor-Elect Katie Hobbs has appointed Angie Rodgers to take over DES. The agency says thousands of Arizonans were overpaid unemployment benefits in the pandemic.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman announced last month that the Arizona Department of Education will allocate $6.75 million in pandemic relief funds to waive fees for students who qualify for reduced-price school meals starting in January.

Lawmakers have a limited window to pass an extension to the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which lapsed at the end of 2021. Last year, the strengthened tax credit helped cut childhood poverty from 9.7 to 5.2 percent! In a year of record inflation and economic uncertainty, the CTC expansion alone kept 2.9 million children out of poverty.

Faith Leaders Sign On by Friday, May 20: If Congress were to make the current $2,000 Child Tax Credit fully refundable and available to all low-income families, the number of children experiencing poverty would fall by an estimated 20 percent.

Food insecurity and poverty continue to affect families in the U.S. with young children who are the most vulnerable to hunger. A way to ensure children have the food they need to survive and thrive is to extend the expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

While the details of President Joe Biden’s signature social-spending bill are still being haggled over, one big takeaway is clear: the $1.75 trillion package marks a dramatic shift toward boosting support for families with children after decades of government benefits being skewed toward the elderly.

91 percent of families with low incomes (less than $35,000) are using their monthly Child Tax Credit payments for the most basic household expenses — food, clothing, shelter, and utilities — or education.

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry of The Episcopal Church were at The White House last week advocating for children and families through a series of bills before Congress right now.