The Delta Grassroots Caucus (DGC) is a broad coalition of grassroots leaders in the eight-state Delta region. DGC is also a founding partner of the Economic Equality Caucus,
which advocates for economic equality across the USA.

May 23-24 Economic Equality Caucus in Washington, DC Area--Deadlines are May 2

Posted on April 24, 2018 at 01:58 PM

The Economic Equality Caucus conference in the Washington, DC area is now a little less than a month away. Group hotel and early registration deadlines are next week, May 2.

We have Members of Congress, national executive branch officials, and policy organizations on job creation at good wages, economic equality, health care, nutrition, infrastructure, and education on the program.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) REGISTRATION

2) GROUP HOTEL

3) UPDATE ON THE MAY 23-24 PROGRAM

4) APPRECIATION FOR SPONSORS

EARLY REGISTRATION:

For those attending all the sessions, early registration fees deadline at $100 is May 2, Wednesday, close of business. This goes up to $125 after May 2.

For people based in the Washington, DC area who have work restrictions on their schedule and can only attend one session, we ask for a registration fee of $20 per session.

You register by paying the registration fees.

The easiest way to register is to go to the website at mdgc.us and use the PayPal link that says “Donate.”

The PayPal process automatically produces a written record of your payment, but we can certainly also send along an invoice if you like.

If you prefer to pay by check, please make out the check to “Delta Caucus” and mail to:

Delta Caucus

5030 Purslane Place

Waldorf, MD 20601

GROUP HOTEL:

The group hotel is the Staybridge Suites, Tysons/McLean Virginia, which is only three minutes by the hotel shuttle from the May 23 opening session meeting venue, and not a long taxi ride from the Capitol Hill sessions on Thursday morning and luncheon, May 24, on Capitol Hill.

Please call the hotel by May 2, Wednesday at (703) 448-5400 and say you are with the Economic Equality Caucus/Delta Caucus group to get the group discount of $239 for the night of May 23. This is the busiest time of year and Washington, DC is majestic in the spring. The hotel offers free parking, free breakfasts and is very close to the opening session, not far from Capitol Hill, and situated close to two of the DC area airports.

Washington, DC hotel rates in the spring are admittedly high, but with the parking, breakfast and location, this is actually a fairly good rate by DC standards.

OPENING SESSION, Wednesday evening, May 23, 4:45 to 7:45 p.m.

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer sanctuary in McLean, Virginia, 1545 Chain Bridge Road.

The location is in McLean, Virginia, across the Potomac from Capitol Hill, at the McLean Lutheran Church of the Redeemer sanctuary. We have many people based in the northern Virginia/DC/MD area who are transplanted from Arkansas, Mississippi and elsewhere in the Delta, and we have an opportunity to hear firsthand from one of the two or three most heavily watched Congressional races in the entire country in the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, of which McLean is at the heart.

This seat is hotly contested, with incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) facing a Republican challenger and six Democratic challengers.

People originally from the Delta region with strong ties to the northern Virginia/DC/Md region include former First District Congressman of Arkansas Bill Alexander and his wife Debi (now a nonprofit senior official in northern VA; Congressman Alexander and Debi live in McLean), Kay Goss, Lee Powell, Rodney Fisher, Wilson Golden, and we are inviting the Arkansas State Society in DC to attend.

This district is not only receiving national attention as a race that will have an impact on the national make-up of Congress, but this district has both rural and urban areas, is highly diverse and is thus a microcosm of the national public policy debate. It begins in urban northern Virginia but stretches out to rural and agricultural areas in western Virginia that have much in common with the Delta, Midwest, and other more small-town and rural regions.

The Republican challenger is Shak Hill, a veteran, private businessman and staunch supporter of President Trump.

Democrats in the crowded field include:

· Alison Friedman, Obama administration appointee, diplomat, anti-human trafficking activist;

· Dan Helmer, veteran, Rhodes Scholar, private businessman;

· Paul Pelletier, attorney, former prosecutor for 27 years in the US Dept. of Justice;

· Lindsey Davis Stover, Obama administration appointee, veterans’ affairs advocate, private business owner;

· Jennifer Wexton, attorney, and state senator representing a district in northern Virginia.

Opening session with nonrprofits and grassroots leaders:

We will start off the opening session at 4:45 to 5:15 with a brief reception, and then have nonprofit and other grassroots leaders from 5:15 to 5:45 p.m., including:Piper Phillips Caswell, CEO, Phillips Programs for Children and Families; Don Frickel, president of the nonprofit Share, Inc. Deanna Heier, Chair, Social Concerns Committee, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer; Eileen Ellsworth, president, Community Foundation of Northern Virginia; and Mayor David Smith of Winchester, Virginia.

Forum for 10th Congressional District candidates of both parties, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

This emphasizes question and answer format, focusing on job creation at good wages, positions regarding the Trump administration’s economic policies, infrastructure investments, economic equality for women and minorities including DACA/Dreamers issues, health care, SNAP and other safety net programs.

Thursday, May 24 US Senate Session, 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Senate Russell Building Room 485

“Hunger and Nutrition, Rural Community and Economic Development & USDA-Related Issues”

8:30 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.—Katrin Kark, Rural LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corp.)

8:40 a.m. to 8:50 a.m.—Lynette Johnson, Executive Director, Society of St. Andrew, national anti-hunger organization

8:50 a.m. to 9 a.m..—David Lipsetz, Executive Director, Housing Assistance Council, Washington, DC

9:a.m to 9:07 a.m..—Patty Barker, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, on SNAP and other Nutrition Issues

9:07 to 9: 15 a.m.—Carrie Calvert, Managing Director, Nutrition and Ag Government Relations, Feeding America

9:15 a.m. to 9:22 a.m.—Shannon Maynard, Executive Director, Congressional Hunger Center, invited

9:22 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.—Lauren Badger, Senior Director, Government Affairs, Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)

9:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.–USDA FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE Deputy Administrator, Rich Lucas—high ranking official at USDA national headquarters, to address the SNAP program

9:40 a.m.– Congressman Rick Crawford, Arkansas (introduced by Harvey Joe Sanner, American Agriculture Movement of Arkansas, Des Arc, Arkansas

10 a.m.—10:20 a.m.—Congressman French Hill, Arkansas

10:20 a.m. to 10: 27 a.m.—Ian Record, National Congress of American Indians

10:27 to 10:35 .–Wilson Golden, William Winter Institute for Racial Reconcilation, Jackson, Mississippi

Steve Copley, Arkansas InterFaith, advocate for Dreamers and equality for Hispanics

US Sen. John Boozman, Arkansas (invited)

10:35 TO 10:42 a..m.—10:27 a.m.—Brad Cole, Executive Director, Illinois Municipal League

10:45 a.m.—10:52 a.m.—Porter Briggs, Save the White River Bridge Campaign

10: 52 a.m. to 11 a.nm–Tracy Barnett, University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Social Work professor, on her research regarding the impact SNAP cuts would have in Arkansas

Thursday May 24 Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill, 212 East Capitol (near the Supreme Court)

Opening speaker—11:30 a.m. to 11:37 a.m.—Lutheran Church of the Reformation introduction

11:37 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.–Rev. Dwight Webster, Senior Pastor, Oakland, California Beth Eden Baptist Church; formerly Senior Pastor, Christian Unity Baptist Church, New Orleans, Louisiana; survivor and victim of Hurricane Katrina

11:50 a.m. to 12:10–Congressman James McGovern, Massachusetts, Co-Chair, US House of Representatives Hunger Caucus, Senior Ranking Democrat, House Agriculture Committee’s Nutrition Subcommittee

12:10 to 12:30—Kim Brown, Chief Program Officer, DC Central Kitchen, nationally recognized nonprofit based in Washington, DC, along with an alumnus of the DC Central Kitchen’s program for training people for careers in the food service industry

12:30 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.— Joel Berg, CEO, Hunger Free American, national hunger and poverty nonprofit based in New York

12:50 p.m. to 1 p.m.—Karen Cunningham, Executive Director, DC nonprofit, faith-based organization—Capitol Hill Group Ministry

1 p.m. to 1: 10 p.m.—Community Family Life Services, Ashley McSwain, Executive Director

1:10 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.—Congressman Don Beyer, Virginia (invited)

APPRECIATION FOR SPONSORS

LEAD SPONSOR

Nucor Yamato Steel and Nucor Steel of Arkansas

SPONSORS

Illinois Municipal League

Arkansas Municipal League

Mississippi Co. AR Economic Opportunity Commission, Blytheville, Arkansas

Winrock International