Accomplishments 2009-2010
Passing the largest student financial aid law in history.
In March, President Obama signed the largest student loan bill in history into law. The new law increases financial aid for students by $36 billion, and it won't cost taxpayers a dime because it's funded by cutting wasteful hand-outs to banks and loan companies like Sallie Mae and Citibank.
Across the country 10,000 of you called, wrote, emailed, and tweeted your Congressmen asking them to take action. In addition, our DC staff worked tirelessly to bring your message to legislators and their staff.
Stopping the worst unfair practices by credit companies.
In February the Credit CARD Act went into effect. This law protects students and ends some of the worst unfair practices of credit card companies, making it illegal for credit card companies to profit by tricking people into paying late. It was the outcry of students like you that passed this law, and the banks aren't happy about it - this is the first time in 40 years any law opposed by credit card companies has passed.
In Wisconsin we have been working hard to build momentum for credit card reform for a long time. We’ve been spreading the word on unfair practices, releasing reports, and we held a press conference with Senator Herb Kohl that received national media attention. We’re proud to have helped ensure that students will be safer from the dangers of credit cards in the future.
Reforming the health care system in order to make health care affordable.
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the insurance industry to stop reform, health insurance reform became law. Our priority has been to make health care affordable. This law takes unprecedented steps to lower costs for families and small businesses, and it prohibits insurers from using pre-existing conditions, errors on forms, and lifetime or yearly caps to drop your coverage or price it out of reach. It also helps young adults – a highly uninsured demographic - by allowing them to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.
We hosted a Health Care Reform Rally alongside faculty from The University of Wisconsin and Representative Tammy Baldwin, to help push the people in power to bring about real change on the issue. With 200 students in attendance, we helped to bring the voices of young people into the discussion and debate.
Building support for global warming solutions.
We're calling on the Senate to build a clean energy economy that will create jobs and enhance America’s national security while protecting the environment. Across the country, we mobilized over 30,000 students and community members to contact their Senators to call for clean, renewable energy and an end to our dependence on oil and coal.
We held events on campus and off to educate thousands of people, resulting in more than 100 news stories about our work. We made over 1000 phone calls to Wisconsin Senators demanding clean energy legislation. We also worked with students who live on campus to reduce their energy usage in our annual Residence Hall Energy competition. On top of that, we’ve begun to work with the university to increase energy efficiency in campus buildings.
Helping rebuild Haiti, and fighting poverty here at home. It's been a tough year for many American families, and the earthquake in Haiti has affected millions. We joined ASM's Haiti Relief Day of Action which raised over $7,000 for relief efforts. And through our annual Hunger Cleanup 50 students from the University of Wisconsin joined students across the country for a day of service in our communities. We raised another $11,000 for the Community Action Coalition, Oxfam’s Haiti Relief and national efforts to combat poverty.
Conservation and Recycling Efforts.
Waste and inefficiency plague the way we function as a society. Our Conservation and Recycling Efforts (CARE) campaign works combat this major issue. Our elementary education project taught hundreds of local kids the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Also, after much effort, we threw an Earth Day party in the center of campus with dozens of other student groups to celebrate the place we are trying to protect.
Fair Trade.
After two years of pushing, our Fair trade campaign helped to pass a resolution that designates Madison as a fair trade city. The first student group in the country to do this, their work has brought the plight of foreign laborers to the forefront of young people in Madison, and is shaping up to help push strong local policy aimed at better buying practices on the part of local government.
nwide cap to global warming pollution -
needs to pass the senate this fall. Help us stand up to big oil and
dirty coal and make it happen. We also want to help UW Madison to be a leader
in clean energy by hosting the 4th annual Residence Hall Energy
Competition and proposing research on energy efficiency projects to
university administrators. Check out our 
heir heads or enough meals to keep them healthy. H&H helps
to solve poverty through service, education, and legislation. Resolve to fight poverty!
