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United Way Public Policy Center

As a leading community impact organization, United Way knows that real and sustained change in community conditions requires more than money. The United Way of America Public Policy office is located in Alexandria, VA and is dedicated to supporting local and state United Ways as they work to advance the common good. Policy staff educate and engage Members of Congress, the Administration, and other policymakers about the goals and priorities of the United Way movement, United Way’s community impact work, and United Way system expertise in education, financial stability, nonprofit sector strengthening, and health-related issues. United Way of America also supports and encourages local and state United Ways to participate in public policy at the local and state levels.

If your United Way is interested in applying for federal funds, please visit http://www.hhs.gov/fbci/ or view a new publication that lists over 100 government grant programs available to community-based organizations. In addition, the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services has published capacity building toolkits for community organizations in search of information, tools, and resources.

If your United Way would like to contact your Member(s) of Congress and/or local elected officials, please click here to access all necessary contact information.  For opportunities on how to get involved and advocate on behalf of United Way's federal legislative priorities, visit the United Way Legislative Action Center.

 

Support 2-1-1

Take action and support United Way public policy in the areas of education, income, and health!  Tell your Members of Congres to support and pass The Calling for 2-1-1 Act!

 

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United Way Leaders Stand in Support of Charitable Giving Incentives

Public Policy

On September 10, 2009, more than 400 United Way professional and volunteer leaders from all 50 states, sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging Congress to reject a cap on itemized deductions, including the charitable deduction, as a means of financing comprehensive health reform.

As the largest non-government funder of health and human services in the United States, United Way is concerned that the adoption of even a modest decrease in charitable giving incentives, as has been proposed, will hinder service delivery and negatively impact nonprofit work across the country. Giving USA's latest estimates show a 12.7% decrease in contributions to all human services nonprofits due to current economic conditions. Any additional decrease in giving, as a result of a cap on charitable deductions, would be detrimental to the work of United Way and its partners. United Way leaders from across the country urge Congress to maintain all current charitable giving incentives. Click here to read the text of the letter.

Want to take action? Call your Senators in support of current charitable giving incentives.

Join United Way in Advocating for Health Reform

United Way's 10-year health goal is to increase by one-third the number of youth and adults who are healthy and avoiding risky behavior.  To achieve this goal, we acknowledge that the current system must be improved, and that the widely-recognized shortcomings in our nation’s health care system callout for major reform.

To demonstrate our support for health reform, the United Way system spent much of March and April participating in White House Regional Forums on Health Reform all across the country.  From Michigan and Iowa to Vermont and California, representatives from local, state and the national United Way attended these important forums to encourage the development of pragmatic, non-partisan solutions so that all Americans can enjoy a healthy life. 

To help the United Way system continue to build momentum, please take a few moments to urge your Members of Congress to make passage of health reform legislation a priority by clicking here.

Family Tax Relief Act Introduced by Senators Lincoln (D-AR) and Snowe (R-ME)

May 7, 2009: On Thursday, May 7th, 2009 Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced the Family Tax Relief Act of 2009 in an effort to make quality child care more accessible and affordable for our nation's working families by increasing the size of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and making it fully refundable.

WHY PASS THE FAMILY TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2009?

The cost of child care has sky-rocketed over the past decade, costing, on average, approximately $10,000 per year for a young child in a licensed care facility. According to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, even child care in an unlicensed, less expensive, family care home can cost more than $9,000 per year. In every region of the U.S., average monthly child care fees for an infant are higher than the average monthly cost of food. The nation's working poor are hit the hardest-According to U.S. Census Bureau Statistics, those living below the federal poverty line spend nearly one-third their income on child care. Yet, despite all this, only 3% of total dollars claimed by tax payers through the CDCTC in 2006 went to households earning below 20%. The current credit does not reflect the current reality.

Interested in learning more about the Family Tax Relief Act, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and how you can advocate? CLICK HERE

Family Tax Relief Act of 2009

Advancing the Common Good: United Way Policy Agenda for the 111th Congress

Public Policy

United Way of America is pleased to release ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD: UNITED WAY AGENDA FOR THE 111th CONGRESS.   This document details United Way of America's legislative priorities for the 111th Congress in the areas of:

*                        2-1-1

*                        Education

*                        Income

*                        Health

*                        Nonprofit Sector Strengthening



to request a hard copy of the document, please contact Patty Hall at (703)836-7112 Ext. 572 or patty.hall@uwa.unitedway.org

United Way Applauds Passage of H.R.2, SCHIP Reauthorization

President Obama signs H.R. 2 into law

United Way commends Congress for its swift passage of legislation to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and applauds President Obama for promptly signing into law the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2009. Providing children with access to health care services is absolutely essential to our nation’s health, especially during the current economic crisis. United Way’s 10-year health goal is to increase by one-third the number of youth and adults who are healthy and avoid risky behavior with a key indicator of the goal being the number of children under the age of 18 who are not covered by health insurance.

Many of the provisions included in the reauthorization bill, including an expansion of eligibility requirements and enhanced outreach efforts, will help move us closer to fulfilling this important goal. Specifically, the legislation will result in 4.1 million additional children having access to health care while all children under the program will have access to improved mental health and dental services. Currently, nine million children in the U.S. do not have health insurance. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a proven jointly financed Federal and State program that has dramatically reduced the number of uninsured children in the U.S. since its inception in 1997. Unfortunately, inadequate program funding previously contributed to millions of children being left uninsured who were otherwise eligible for SCHIP coverage. Thus, it is no surprise that SCHIP is one of United Way’s top public policy priorities.

United Way of America (UWA) and the system as a whole have urged Congress to significantly expand SCHIP for more than 3 years. While UWA’s public policy team has work tirelessly (along with many of our coalition partners) to improve access to essential health care services for our children, the efforts of the entire United Way system, including the many calls and letters to Congressional offices by local United Ways, were instrumental to securing passage of this important legislation...read more...