Helping Congress Help Their Constituents

On Wednesday, we’re sponsoring a briefing that’s designed as a service to Congressional offices, “Helping Constituents Save at Tax Time: A Congressional Briefing on How Legislators can Educate Constituents on Buying Savings Bonds with Tax Refunds.” The event is from 10am-11am in 122 Cannon HOB.

For a number of years we have advocated for the IRS to allow taxpayers to purchase savings bonds with a portion of their tax refund. Thanks to the leadership of the Doorways to Dreams Fund (D2D) the idea was demonstrated to be feasible and popular, and now the IRS has made this proposal a reality. 2011 marks the second year that savings bonds will be available for purchase directly on the tax form and the first year that joint purchase will be an option (a feature that is popular with many Americans who want to purchase savings bonds for their children or grandchildren.)

Now that the policy is in place, the challenge is making people aware of this new option and encouraging them to use it. D2D has collaborated with a number of other organizations on a marketing campaign (www.bondsmakeiteasy.org) that provides information and materials to individuals and organizations interested in promoting the purchase of savings bonds. One effective way of promoting this new savings tool is for Congressional offices to get involved, so we’ve partnered with D2D and the Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus to organize Wednesday’s briefing.

This policy is really a success story from a number of angles, and that’s demonstrated in the lineup when you’ll have a non-profit organization, the IRS, and the for-profit Intuit (makers of TurboTax) all on the same stage talking about why the savings bond purchase option is a good thing, and demonstrating ways that Congressional leaders can get involved in their own communities and promote savings bonds and the development of financial security.

All Congressional staff are welcome and encouraged to attend, there’s a nifty toolkit takeaway that can be used to promote community outreach and I’ll be moderating. We’re thankful to the Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus for sponsoring.