News
ICYMI: A Busy Week for Aging Policy
- By: USAging
- On: 09/20/2019 11:06:22
- In: Policy & Advocacy
We pushed out a lot of policy news and requests to n4a members this week, as Congress advanced both an Older Americans Act reauthorization bill and FY 2020 appropriations measures. The activity is driven in part by the September 30 deadlines for both types of legislation.
Here's a quick recap but be sure to read our latest Legislative Updates for details.
First, the good news. On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee approved a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA) through 2024, with recommended funding increases of 35 percent over the five-year authorization period. n4a has endorsed the bill, which contains many of our OAA reauthorization priorities. The OAA expires at the end of this month, although as long as funding continues to flow, that expiration date does not have an immediate effect. Read more in our September 18 Legislative Update.
Speaking of funding, we are less pleased with the Senate Appropriations Committee's level funding of virtually all Older Americans Act programs for FY 2020. Stay tuned for a call to action, as advocates will need to push Congress to ultimately accept the House's funding levels, which included significant increases for OAA and other key aging programs! FY 2019 funding does expire at the end of the month, as well, so Congress is working on a stop-gap measure to ensure the funding keeps flowing come October 1. Read more in our September 19 Legislative Update.
And don't forget to weigh in on the Administration-proposed SNAP cuts by end of day on Monday, September 23. Our template letter will make it easy for your agency to raise your concerns about this worrisome change and the effects it will have on low-income older adults. Details in our September 16 Advocacy Alert.