BREAKING THROUGH AT THE BALLOT BOX How The Fairness Project Changed the Lives of Over 17 Million Americans in Our First 5 years

BREAKING THROUGH AT THE BALLOT BOX How The Fairness Project Changed the Lives of Over 17 Million Americans in Our First 5 years

Building a Movement to Support Working Families at the Ballot Box ...... 3

TFP 2020 Campaigns Inspired Activism ...... 4

Empowering Voters to Expand Health Care ...... 4

Shifting the Political Math on Health Care ...... 5

Making Health Care a Constitutional Right During a Pandemic ...... 5

Guaranteeing Paid Leave ...... 7

Ending Poverty Wages ...... 7

Combating Systemic Racism ...... 8

Winning Leave Policies that Support American Families ...... 8

Responding to the COVID Pandemic ...... 9

TFP’s Impact Record: Over 17 Million Lives Changed ...... 10

TFP’s Ballot Initiatives Helped Define the 2020 Election— And Redefine What’s Possible ...... 11

The Best Investment in Politics Is Also the Fastest Path for Change ...... 13

Ballot Initiative Campaigns Bring Huge Results ...... 14

The Fairness Project Builds and Supports Campaigns ...... 15

Missouri Case Study: From Concept to Victory ...... 16

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Hundreds of volunteers in helped put expansion on the ballot.

BUILDING A MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT WORKING FAMILIES AT THE BALLOT BOX

Since its founding in 2015, no organization has a better track record of winning progressive issues at the ballot box.

The Fairness Project is now 20–1, winning 95 percent of its ballot initiative campaigns at a time when partisan gridlock and special interests have stymied progress at every level of government. We put political power directly into the hands of voters and are solving some of the biggest economic and health care problems facing working families across the country.

THE FAIRNESS PROJECT 3 Empowering Voters to Expand Health Care When the was under attack and most at risk of being overturned, The Fairness Project responded by going on offense, launching Medicaid expansion ballot measures in red and purple states across the country.

In 2017, The Fairness Project worked with partners in to win the first- ever Medicaid expansion ballot measure. In 2018, we incubated and drove similar victories in , , and Nebraska. And in 2020, our work allowed voters in Oklahoma and to cast ballots for more health care, too.

These wins are making it possible for more than 830,000 additional Americans to see a doctor, get medical treatments, and receive needed prescription drugs, and they’ve proved that voters everywhere want more access to lifesaving care. The victories helped secure the nation’s landmark health care program at a critical time, and are delivering a lasting impact for low-income families and communities of color who face significant health care and economic disparities.

TFP 2020 Campaigns Inspired Activism

3,643 volunteers

9,127 volunteer shifts

3 million calls and texts to voters

4 THE FAIRNESS PROJECT Shifting the Political Math on Health Care This truly is a game changer for my family MEMBERS OF CONGRESS REPRESENTING MEDICAID EXPANSION STATES and others like me 2017 (before TFP campaign) facing a lack of health

62% 38% care coverage for MEDICAID EXPANSION NON-EXPANSION ourselves and our loved

2021 (after TFP campaigns) ones. We are already facing stress and 73% 27% MEDICAID EXPANSION NON-EXPANSION financial hardship, and now with this COVID -19 pandemic, our anxiety Making Health Care a Constitutional Right is at an all-time high. During a Pandemic The opportunity to In 2020, The Fairness Project took its movement for health care expand Medicaid to new heights as the deep red states of Oklahoma and Missouri became the first in the country to constitutionally guarantee the coverage can save lives. expansion of Medicaid.

The transformation in the two states is staggering. Prior to Victoria Altic, expansion, Oklahoma had the second highest uninsured rate in a Springfield, MO mother the country, and Missouri possessed one of the highest maternal in the coverage gap mortality rates in the nation with Black women three times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy complications. Rural hospitals in both states were shuttering their doors at an alarming rate, making access to emergency care a growing challenge for entire communities, and essential workers in both states continued to go without health care — even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a decade of political obstruction, voters in Oklahoma and Missouri had seen enough. They collected hundreds of thousands of signatures, set new records for civic engagement, and turned out in huge numbers to expand Medicaid and ensure that their health care could never be taken away by politicians again. This June I found out my son has stage four cancer. I cannot tell you how devastating that is for a mother to hear. I had to make a choice of caring for my son or working, and I cannot afford to lose my job. No one should ever have to choose between their paycheck and being with their children in their last days. I am now putting myself at risk every other week when I go to see him. I’m at risk of losing my job, of catching COVID when flying, of not being with my son when he needs me. I was there when he took his first breath and I need to be there when he takes his last.

April Kimbrough, a health care worker and nursing school student

6 THE FAIRNESS PROJECT Every month is Guaranteeing Paid Leave a struggle The COVID-19 crisis underscored just how vulnerable most Americans are, and how little access workers have to paid leave. but it doesn’t have We talk a lot about supporting working families in this country, but it’s far past time to move beyond the talk and actually do to be this way. something about it.

The Fairness Project recognized the importance of paid leave long People who work before the global health crisis hit. In 2016 and 2018, The Fairness Project helped voters in , , Michigan, and San hard should be Antonio, Texas win ballot initiatives to provide paid to more than 3 million Americans. able to take care of Then, in 2020, we helped win the nation’s first-ever paid family and medical leave ballot initiative in , setting up further their families—not action at the federal and state level. be forced to live in The Fairness Project is committed to continuing our work to deliver paid leave to support families when illness strikes or a poverty. newborn arrives—policies the rest of the industrialized world implemented long ago but tens of millions of American workers still go without. Alexis Straughter, Certified Nursing Assistant St Louis, MO Ending Poverty Wages Real wages for working families haven’t budged in decades, gender and racial income gaps persist, and the disparity between working people and those at the very top has continued to grow. If we want to boost the economy and support working families, then consumers need money to spend, and that starts with higher wages.

Since 2016, The Fairness Project has helped working families take matters into their own hands, winning minimum wage increases in nine states, including Arizona, Arkansas, , Colorado, Washington, D.C., Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Washington. These wage increases have benefited nearly 10 million workers, put more than $17 billion into their pockets, and created upward pressure on Congress to pass a federal increase in the minimum wage.

If progressive economic issues like raising the minimum wage can win at the ballot box in red states like Arkansas, Missouri, and , they can win anywhere. The Fairness Project will continue the fight to end poverty wages by supporting ballot initiatives across the country.

THE FAIRNESS PROJECT 7 Combating Systemic Racism In the march toward equality, our country has a long way to go. Systemic racism has led to corporate and public policies that undervalue, fail, and endanger the lives of people of color.

Communities of color are more likely to go without insurance, be underserved by our health care system, work in jobs that pay poverty wages, be denied access to personal or commercial credit, not have access to paid leave, and be killed by the police.

Together, we must reject systemic racism and the policies that sustain it. And while we recognize that no single policy can put an end to the devastating racial disparities we see across the country, the evidence is overwhelming that the policies The Fairness Project advocates for, such as Medicaid expansion, paid leave, increasing the minimum wage, combatting predatory lending and police reform, can significantly reduce them.

Finding New Ways to Make An Impact

The Fairness Project is working with its partners to assess and incubate ballot initiative campaigns in cities to address policing issues. We look forward to partnering with grassroots leaders to create a more equitable and responsive system of justice across the country.

8 THE FAIRNESS PROJECT Responding to the COVID Pandemic The frontline workers From the vulnerability of our jobs to the lack of access to paid who have sustained leave and health care, to increased attention on racial and gender disparities, the pandemic shined a bright light on issues that have us through the long impacted the American people.

And thanks to a number of recent ballot initiatives, voters have pandemic have made it clear what they want to see in a response: health care for all Americans, guaranteed paid leave, and an increase in the been cheered as minimum wage to support the essential workers who have been heroes — but many most affected by COVID-19.

This is our moment to address these systemic issues and secure still don’t have the dignity of all workers by ensuring that everyone can go to the doctor or stay home when they’re sick, put food on the table access to health for their families, and afford the roof over their heads, no matter where they work. care, paid leave,

That’s why The Fairness Project is committed to more ballot or living wages. measures to address these critical issues — recognizing that working families can no longer afford to wait. Not only are these It’s critical that we policies critical to our recovery, but they represent a moral imperative that must be met. guarantee them the protections they need and ballot initiatives like those led by The Fairness Project are a critical part of the solutionFPO when Congress or state legislatures fail to act.

Paul Sonn, State Policy Program Director, National Employment Law Project

THE FAIRNESS PROJECT 9 TFP’S IMPACT RECORD: OVER 17 MILLION LIVES CHANGED

ARIZONA MAINE OKLAHOMA

Raised the minimum Raised the minimum Expanded Medicaid wage for over wage for over for over 200,000 770,000 people 180,000 people people

Delivered paid Expanded Medicaid sick leave for over for over 70,000 930,000 people people SAN ANTONIO, TX

Delivered paid sick leave for over ARKANSAS MASSACHUSETTS 350,000 people Raised the minimum Raised the minimum wage for over wage for over 300,000 people 940,000 people UTAH Delivered paid family leave for over 1.2 Expanded Medicaid million people for over 150,000 CALIFORNIA people Raised the minimum wage for over 5.6 million people MICHIGAN WASHINGTON Delivered paid sick leave for 760,000 Raised the minimum people wage for over COLORADO 730,000 people

Raised the minimum Delivered paid sick wage for over leave for over 1 480,000 people MISSOURI million people Ended predatory Raised the minimum payday lending wage for over for over 200,000 670,000 people people WASHINGTON, D.C. Expanded Medicaid Extended Paid Family for over 230,000 Raised the minimum and Medical Leave people wage for over to over 2.3 million 120,000 people people NEBRASKA

IDAHO Expanded Medicaid for over 90,000 Expanded Medicaid people for over 90,000 people Ended predatory payday lending for over 50,000 people

10 THE FAIRNESS PROJECT TFP’S BALLOT INITIATIVES HELPED DEFINE THE 2020 ELECTION —AND REDEFINE WHAT’S POSSIBLE The passage of Medicaid expansion in deep red states, paid family and medical leave, and ending predatory payday lending underscored the importance and direct impact of putting power in the hands of voters.

HOW PROGRESSIVES FLIPPED THE SCRIPT ON MEDICAID EXPANSION

MEDICAID EXPANSION WINS IN RED STATE OKLAHOMA

NEBRASKA BECOMES THE LATEST STATE TO CAP PAYDAY LOAN INTEREST RATES

COLORADO MAKES HISTORY WITH PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ON BALLOT

THE FAIRNESS PROJECT 11

Volunteers gathered more than 350,000 signatures in Missouri to help put Medicaid expansion on the ballot.

THE BEST INVESTMENT IN POLITICS IS ALSO THE FASTEST PATH FOR CHANGE

Ballot initiative campaigns run by The Fairness Project provide a level of certainty, return on investment, and direct impact that is unrivaled in politics.

Partisan gridlock and special interests have stifled progress across the country, halting improvements on economic and health care issues that are widely supported by Americans. Ballot initiatives, on the other hand, deliver results on the issues that matter most, and in a tremendously cost effective way.

THE FAIRNESS PROJECT 13 BALLOT INITIATIVE CAMPAIGNS BRING HUGE RESULTS The Fairness Project results by the numbers

$0.61 TFP SPENDING PER LIFE CHANGED 17+ MILLION $22 BILLION AMERICANS IN THE HANDS OF DIRECTLY IMPACTED WORKERS BY 2022

8,180 LIVES SAVED FROM MEDICAID EXPANSION

14 THE FAIRNESS PROJECT The Fairness Project Builds and Supports Campaigns The Fairness Project makes ballot initiative campaigns The Fairness Project is possible. We work with local partners every step of the way from planning and strategy, to signature collection and campaigning. The Fairness Project delivers the cutting-edge such a critical group... tools and expertise needed to maximize resources — and ultimately, win for working families. If you can’t get it While every campaign has different needs, The Fairness Project works with local partners to: through the legislature, Assess and Incubate Campaigns then put it on the ballot. Ensure Best Practices Are Followed You all have found a Make Early Investments to Get on the Ballot brilliant strategy. Deliver Data Models and Voter Targets

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Develop Strategic Plans Former Secretary of Health and Human Services

Provide Opinion Research and Message Guidance

Boost Earned Media Outreach

Build Institutional and Business Support

Coordinate National Campaigns

Support Digital Outreach and Social Media

THE FAIRNESS PROJECT 15 Missouri Case Study: From Concept to Victory Inspired by The Fairness Project’s Medicaid expansion campaigns in other states and building off it’s 2018 victory on minimum wage in the state, The Fairness Project and its grassroots partners brought together a bipartisan, diverse coalition of healthcare workers, hospitals, business leaders, religious groups, and racial justice organizations in one of the reddest states in the country. Volunteer activists kicked off what would become an unprecedented signature collection drive with 350,000 signatures collected in total.

The Fairness Project provided resources and expertise to the campaign, forged relationships between grassroots organizers and health care stakeholders, and delivered strategic advice, opinion research, and data-driven modeling to inform the voter contact strategy. The campaign was successfully framed as a bipartisan effort that would both expand health care and bring billions of tax dollars back home to the state.

In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country, exposing just how vulnerable our jobs and health care can be.

With stay-at-home guidelines in effect, the campaign found new ways to get creative and connect with voters. More of the traditional campaign infrastructure moved online, increasing the use of virtual events, digital outreach, and new engagement strategies. The campaign also launched MARV, its Medicaid Ambulance Response Vehicle, which traveled all across the state to get the message out, build excitement, and support smaller, socially distanced media events. In total, the campaign had 105,150 conversations with voters, dialed over 1 million phone numbers, sent 201,392 texts, and traveled 13,000 miles across the state.

Opponents launched an all out attack on the measure and resorted to the use of racist mailers and TV ads in a last-ditch effort to turn the tide. The effort backfired, though, with voters rejecting their approach. The campaign On primary day in August 2020, Missourians voted to pass Medicaid expansion, delivering health care to more than 230,000 of their neighbors and a message to politicians across the country: voters want more health care — not less — and collected nearly they’ll go out of their way to fight for it. twice the number of signatures needed, 350,000 in total

Doctors go door to door to collect signatures for Medicaid expansion in Missouri.

16 THE FAIRNESS PROJECT

P.O. Box 21337 Washington, DC 20009 • www.thefairnessproject.org TWITTER fairnessproject• FACEBOOK-F projectfairness• instagram thefairnessproject