Great work!! Thanks Karen and to all team members, thank you!!!
Darylen
*Darylen Cote, Director*
*TRIO College Access Services*
*Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search*
*University of Maine @ Presque Isle*
*181 Main St.*
*Presque Isle, ME 04769*
*207-768-9456 (office)*
*207-592-2672 (mobile)*
*[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> (note new e-mail address!)*
On Fri, Mar 24, 2017 at 12:34 PM, Karen Keim <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello MEEOA,
>
> Your Maine Delegation took the Hill and we had some great results. The
> team included:
>
> - Karen Keim, Director TS & EOC and Maine Team Leader
> - Megan Kidder, USM UB Alumni and English Teacher
> - Jane Kimball Foley, Director SSS YCCC and President-Elect NEOA
> - Betty McCue Herily, Assistant Director SSS UMA Bangor Campus and
> President-Elect MEEOA
> - David Megquier, Retired TRIO Director
> - Kevin Richards, UM UBMS Alumnus and Director of Student Life at KVCC
>
> *We had meetings with all four members:*
> *Senator Collins* 30-minutes plus a photo op, we spent another hour with
> six of her staff about 20-minutes with her education aide. Collins said
> yes to all our asks, she also hosted a TRIO Caucus meeting prior to our
> Hill visits to help us move our agenda along. Her staff tried to get her
> to leave us four different times, she refused to leave until *she* was done
> talking and listening to us.
>
> *Senator King* 15-minutes plus a photo op. We met with 5 of his staff and
> 30-minutes with his education aide. At the end of our meeting the Senator
> said "I feel a floor speech coming!" Taking TRIO and Gear Up to the floor
> of the Senate is exactly what we need.
>
> *Congressman Poliquin* did not meet with the delegation. We met with his
> new education aid. It was a positive meeting. She said although he
> wouldn't sign the TRIO letter he would author his own and she would work
> with Senator Collins' staff to make sure the language was similar to her
> letter (GREAT NEWS).
>
> *Congresswoman Pingree* met with the delegation for about 5 minutes stating
> "I support TRIO and will do all in my power to move the TRIO agenda
> forward." Her education staff had a lot of questions and although they did
> not agree to all of our requests we were told that the aid would take the
> issue back to Pingree and get back to me with her answers.
>
> *THE ASKS:*
>
> 1. Will the Member of Congress support an omnibus appropriations bill to
> fund the remainder of FY2017? [*A Continuing Resolution would be flat
> funding for TRIO and GU, the Omnibus has an increase for both.]
> *(Collins,
> King yes. Pingree doesn't think this is possible to get agreement on an
> Omnibus but would sign if she could agree to the funding contained.
> Poliquin is not interested in another Continuing Resolution, wants an
> Omnibus but can not commit to yes).
> 2. Will the Member of Congress reject devastating cuts to "non-defense
> discretionary programs" including TRIO and Gear Up in FY2018?* [A 10%
> cut to TRIO and 32% cut to GU resulting in a loss of services to 92,000
> students.] *(Collins, King, Pingree Yes, Poliquin a likely yes)
> 3. Will the Member of Congress sign the FY 2018 TRIO Appropriations
> Letter? (Collins, King, Pingree Yes, Poliquin's office will write their
> own letter and try to match as closely as they can the Collins letter)
> 4. Has the Member of Congress or his/her staff visited a TRIO program
> within the last year? (Collins, King, Pingree Yes, Poliquin No)
> 5. Would the Member of Congress or his/her staff be willing to visit a
> TRIO program within the next 6 months? (Yes from all - they need to see
> more than UB programs folks)
> 6. Would the Member of Congress be willing to join the bipartisan,
> bicameral Congressional TRIO Caucus? (Collins, King, Pingree are
> members, Poliquin will consult with Collins)
>
> Our Thanks to our amazing Alum who were well informed, persuasive and
> laser-focused. They were the reason we were successful on the hill.
>
> *WHAT CAN YOU DO?*
> You need to drop off your program fact sheet (if you haven't already) to
> our congressional leadership's local offices. If you can't get there in
> person please send it and ask them to support TRIO and Gear Up.
>
> Write/ call/ email Maine's congressional leadership and ask them to support
> our 6 questions.
>
> Invite members and their local offices to your events. Please let Laurie
> Davis know when you have a member/staff visiting so she can add that to her
> annual report and her NEOA report.
>
> Karen Hadley Keim
> Maine Team Leader
>
> “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit
> there”
> – *Will Rogers*
>
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