IMPACT Advocacy Timeline
Disclaimer: January 2021 IMPACT Community Action released extensive communication and requested meetings with bipartisan elected officials, media and other stakeholders to learn more about their legislative focus and share IMPACT’s mission, bylaws, advocacy plans, programs and services. The timeline below outlines notable moments in our civic engagement work, apart from our commitment to our membership within Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA) First Legislative Friday’s calls.
November 19, 2021
IMPACT CEO "Bo" Chilton meets with Vice President Kamala Harris and community leaders to discuss the passing of the $1.2T infrastructure bill and what that means for Central Ohio.
November 10, 2021
IMPACT Community Advocacy & Outreach Manager meets with the OCC Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu and Columbus community leaders.
September 28, 2021
IMPACT CEO "Bo" Chilton attends Resilience Bridge event as a panelist speaking on Workforce Development and Housing Assistance.
September 23, 2021
IMPACT CEO "Bo" Chilton joins U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown's Office and statewide Community Action Agencies for a Q&A session with the U.S. Treasury Department about ERA1 and ERA2.
August 24, 2021
IMPACT CEO "Bo" Chilton hosts Mayor Ginther, Councilwoman Favor and other community partners to announce $12.2M extra for rental assistance through the city to 26 new agencies.
August 10, 2021:
On April 17, 2020 IMPACT stood up against the Trump administration’s proposed Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) reform, which would hurt those in poverty most. Today - we celebrate the fact that we have a advocacy win from Washington. News released by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) states that there will be new proposed CRA policies by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) who announced it will work to abrogate the CRA rules and instead cohesively join with other banking regulators to adopt new rules.
July 2, 2021:
IMPACT reaches out to State Representative Jena Powell (OH-80) about her presence on the OACAA First Legislative Fridays call and the Ohio State Budget.
June 25, 2021:
IMPACT CEO Bo Chilton met with Secretary Marcia Fudge for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss Affordable Housing Legislation like Beatty’s Housing Financial Literacy Act, H.R. 1395, Initiatives like Secretary Fudge’s Black Homeownership Collaborative and the bi-partisan Trafficking Survivors Housing Act of 2021.
HUD Secretary Fudge calls for collaboration on affordable housing, says U.S. can't 'build our way out' of crisis
Ohioans need to make more than $19 hourly to afford an apartment in Columbus if they want to limit housing costs to 30% of their income.
Those who earn minimum wage must work 74 hours each week to afford a two-bedroom home at the state's fair market rent of $832, according to data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
June 24, 2021:
IMPACT attends the statewide House Bill 294 rally at the Ohio Statehouse joining hundreds of constituents, organizations and elected officials to protest against its passage. As a result, the Republican Caucus cancels the voting meeting to further discuss on legislation.
June 17, 2021:
Today, IMPACT meets with State Representative Dontavius Jarrells (OH-25) Office to learn more about his focus, as one of the newest freshmen of the 134th General Assembly. In addition, on this day IMPACT met with Franklin County Treasurer Cheryl Brooks-Sullivan to set up a meeting about next steps to removing tax barriers for the elderly community. During QTR 1 of 2021, IMPACT identified a legislative agenda with a focus to grow our civic engagement and effectively advocate for low-income families and fight poverty.
June 3, 2021:
IMPACT was welcomed to the “Discrimination Law in Ohio Session 3” learning series. Later this evening IMPACT spoke providing opponent testimony to the Democratic Caucus of the Government Oversight Committee and other community leaders for a public listening tour about House Bill 294.
May 28, 2021:
IMPACT meets with Minority Ranking Member of the Government Oversight Committee State Representative Bride Sweeney to discuss the “Right to Vote” state tour and provide testimony around the H.B. 294. House Bill 294 as interpreted would limit the accessibility to the ballot box for millions of voters especially those in low-income neighborhoods and in poverty. Policy Dissection and Written Statement provided upon request from the Office of Community Engagement & Advancement by the Engagement & Advocacy Manager
May 27, 2021:
IMPACT attends the “How much advocacy can a 5o1c3 do? A lot more then you think” forum.
April 29, 2021:
IMPACT Community Action attends a public town hall with State Representative Erica Crawley and State Representative Dontavius Jarrells.
April 1, 2021:
IMPACT continues policy dissection and opponent testimony for Senate Bill 17. In addition, IMPACT met with Policy Now and joined in the “making the case and telling your story in legislative meetings” forum.
March 18, 2021:
IMPACT meets with State Representative Erica Crawley of (OH-26). During this meeting, State Representative Erica Crawley introduced water for all legislation and the opportunity to provide proponent testimony and phone banking for different pieces of legislation coming out of her district.
March 4, 2021:
IMPACT meets with the Office of Community Engagement for Columbus City Council. During this meeting, the group discussed tax abatement accountability in the city as well as IMPACT’s Speak Up Speak Out advocacy series for community engagement. From this meeting, a line of communication between the two agencies occurred allowing opportunity for swifter, easier collaboration to resolve community issues around poverty.
February 27, 2021:
IMPACT meets with State Senator Hearcel Craig’s Office to discuss Senate Bill 51 – increasing the state minimum wage. Senate Bill 51 as interpreted will move closer to ending the wage wealth gap amongst Ohioans across the state. It will gradually increase the minimum wage to $15/per hour for anybody currently meeting that wage requirement. IMPACT works on developing the “IMPACT Promise” with partnering agencies to encourage $15/min. wage (or higher) for all staff.
February 25, 2021:
IMPACT began having the discussion and began developing Friends of Community Action, an advocacy group that will be made up of young professionals connected to nonprofit, for-profit, government and service agencies.
Friends of Community Action (FoCAN) is an advocacy group that works to encourage civic engagement amongst those in Franklin County, advocating for low-income families and against poverty endorsed policies. Under the guidance of IMPACT initiatives and programming and under the recommendation of Executive Leadership this group will be able to affectively communicate for the interest of the local agency and those they serve.
February 11, 2021:
IMPACT meets with State Senator Hearcel Craig (OH-15) and his office to discuss opportunities to collaborate by providing opponent testimony to Senate Bill 17.
Senate Bill 17 as interpreted will limit the safety nets for low-income and those poverty that assist them during times of struggle and needs (i.e., SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, Unemployment); and it would specifically affect individuals receiving self-sufficiency training like those here at IMPACT.
February 4, 2021:
IMPACT and the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office meet to discuss closing the foreclosure gap amongst the elderly community and those in delinquent status.
30% of foreclosures are those who have no mortgage payment and simply can’t afford property taxes; the disproportionate amount of those people is elderly and or African-American
January 21, 2021:
IMPACT CEO Bo Chilton meets with Executive Director Dave Rinebolt of the Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy (OPAE) to discuss House Bill 6, R-PACE, and new aggregation plans for central Ohio.
June 10, 2020:
IMPACT takes a stance against racism and social injustice in the community by releasing a 3 point action plan and statement on ways to engage
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