With the new General Assembly session just around the corner, AARP Colorado is stepping up recruitment efforts for its legislative advocacy team.

Allison Hiltz, state advocacy director for AARP Colorado, is hoping new technologies and rules established during the pandemic will make it much easier for older Coloradans who do not live in high-population centers along the Front Range to make their voices heard.

"We have this incredible opportunity now with virtual testimony at the Capitol to start bringing in voices that haven't traditionally had access to the process by going down to the Capitol and testifying in person," Hiltz pointed out.

Hiltz hopes to expand the team in numbers, knowledge and geographical and racial representation. The session kicks off Jan. 9 and runs through May, and the group meets once a week, also virtually. To learn more about the work and to sign up, call A-A-R-P Colorado's main office line: 866-554-5376, or email coaarp@aarp.org.

During the last session, AARP Colorado's advocates tracked 119 bills, testified for 17 of the measures and sent more than 900 emails to legislators. Hiltz emphasized this year's team of volunteers will take a look at all the bills introduced during the session.

"To see what bills impact older Coloradans," Hiltz explained. "We will evaluate those bills and take positions on the ones that we think are either the most impactful and beneficial, or the most harmful. We do also oppose bills."

Hiltz stressed volunteers do not need any specific background or experience with policy, and training will be provided. She added in many ways, it is a "choose your own adventure" opportunity. Volunteers get to dig in to learn about bills addressing any issue they're drawn toward, and they will be able to offer input which could help shape laws affecting real people.

"It's a great position for someone who has unending curiosity," Hiltz remarked. "Because you will consistently learn more things, and at the same time, make an impact that will improve the lives of older Coloradans."

Many Nebraskans know how crucial a family caregiver is to one of their family members. Now AARP research has put a dollar value on that unpaid care - $2.8 billion dollars in 2021. Nearly 180,000 Nebraskans provided family caregiving that year. The organization has calculated the value on a state-by-state basis in the latest report of their "Valuing the Invaluable" series.

Todd Stubbendieck AARP Nebraska director said these caregivers are often making it possible for their family members to "age in place."

"Because without the support of those family caregivers, many people would be forced to go into a long-term care or an assisted-living situation," he said. "In addition, not being able to live more independently - which we know is what people want - many of the costs of that care would then get shifted to taxpayers. "

Stubbendieck added it is important for Nebraska family caregivers to learn about the support programs available to them, including the statewide Aging and Disability Resource Center. Since 2021, Nebraskans who leave work to care for a family member are eligible to collect unemployment insurance if they meet certain requirements. This session, state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh (D-Omaha) introduced The Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act, LB-57, which would provide paid leave to Nebraskans who must leave work to care for themselves or a family member.

Stubbendieck said often people do not consider themselves a family caregiver.

"They're supporting a grandparent or a parent or even a child because that's what we do. And because they don't know that they are a family caregiver, sometimes they don't access the support and help they need," he said.

AARP estimates the value of family caregivers nationwide in 2021 was more than $600-billion dollars - up more than $200 billion in just five years. The report's recommendations include implementing more of the 350 actions in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. It also highlights the need to strengthen the Family Medical Leave Act and make sick leave more widely available for workers who need to take family members to medical appointments and procedures.

A recent report finds nursing homes across New York are going without proper oversight.

AARP New York's report finds about 80% of New York City's almost 300 nursing homes, assisted-living and adult-care facilities didn't receive a single visit from the state's Long Term Care Ombudsman Program during a three-month period in 2022.

The reason for this is that the program has long been underfunded, a trend that's set to continue in Gov. Kathy Hochul's latest budget.

Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, explained what would improve the ombudsman program and keep nursing homes accountable for patient care.

"The Department of Health needs to do a better job," said Mollot. "You know, these surveyors are inspectors. They need to be equipped and supported to ensure that residents are safe and that the facilities are not allowed to perpetuate poor care and demeaning conditions."

He added that what's critically needed is a professional ombudsman staff to meet the needs of nursing-home residents. This means regularly monitoring facilities, providing support to residents, and being a voice for residents too.

AARP New York is calling on a commitment of $15 million in state funding for the ombudsman program to ensure it has enough staff to follow through with serious complaints from nursing-home residents.

Trends for nursing homes across the state weren't much better. The report finds that more than half of facilities throughout New York failed to receive one visit from a Long Term Care Ombudsman.

But, outside of this program, there are challenges nursing homes have been facing for some time. Lindsay Heckler, supervising attorney at the Center for Elder Law & Justice, said one challenge that needs to be addressed is staffing.

"The rules and regulations that are in both federal and state law need to be fully enforced," said Heckler. "So, for example, New York State has the minimum staffing standards that are in effect. The state needs to make sure that nursing homes are doing their job and meeting those bare minimums."

Issues with staffing in nursing homes have been ongoing, but were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a report from the American Healthcare Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, from February 2020 to December 2022, nursing homes across the U.S. lost more than 210,000 workers.




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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed a new law that rolls back Michigan's "Retirement Tax" that was implemented more than a decade ago.

The new law, which amends the Income Tax Act, will mean a $1 billion tax break to seniors and working families.

The measure will phase out the retirement tax over four years, saving hundreds of thousands of Michigan households an average of $1,000 a year.

Paula Cunningham, state director of Michigan AARP, said the measure will reverse a policy that many seniors considered a hardship.

"You look at your Social Security, you look at your pension, you look at your income every month and you depend on that for your livelihood as you retire," said Cunningham. "And to later learn after the fact that that money was not going to come in, because you're balancing the budget and taking money away from older adults, never seems right."

The bill, HB 4001, passed on a straight party-line vote in the Senate, and a single Republican joined the Democrats in the House vote.

The former tax policy was created in 2011 by a GOP-controlled legislature as part of a corporate tax cut.

Whitmer and Democratic leaders also sought to approve $180 "inflation relief checks" to every Michigan tax filer, but could not muster the votes to include it in the package.

Cunningham said AARP and other senior advocates fought for the change for several years, but could not get it through until Democrats gained control of the Legislature and the governor's office.

"That means about 700,000 Michiganders will see more money coming into their retirement income," said Cunningham. "That might mean a gas tank or two, might mean another trip for someone. It could mean more groceries or it may not mean a lot to some folks, but to 700,000 people who will make a big difference."

The bill also expands Michigan's Earned Income Tax Credit from 6% to 30% of the federal tax credit. Lawmakers estimate that will save low-income Michigan families about $750 a year.