July 19, 2024 Advocacy Alert

Earlier this week, USAging’s Legislative Update outlined the FY 2025 recommended funding levels of the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Subcommittee. The spending levels were a mixed bag for aging programs with increases for all USAging’s top OAA priorities (Title III B, Title III E and Title VI) but also with significant cuts to or elimination of critical programs (cuts to Title III C1 and C2, zeroed out funding for the Title V Senior Community Service Employment Program and Adult Protective Services).
 
The good news is that there is still time for advocates to make a difference for FY 2025 funding! The House Committee has completed their part of the appropriations process and now it’s time for their Senate counterpart committee to prepare their proposed funding levels. A few subcommittees of the Senate Appropriations Committee have already marked up their FY 2025 bills and we expect the Senate Labor-HHS Subcommittee to follow suit by the end of the month (and prior to the month-long congressional recess starting in August).
 
What Does this Mean?
 
Time is of the essence! The Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee will mark up their bill very soon, so we need to act now to prevent the cuts AND maintain the increases to Titles III B, III E and VI proposed by the House. If the final Labor-HHS FY 2025 appropriations bill reflects the proposal from the House, then:
 

• OAA nutrition programs will suffer a $37 million cut for FY 2025 (or worse if NSIP is cut as it was in FY 2024);
• Low-income older adults will no longer have access to federally funded employment assistance and job training if OAA Title V SCSEP is zeroed out; and
• There will no longer be federal funding available to states to provide Adult Protective Services and older adults and people with disabilities will be at greater risk of mistreatment, exploitation and abuse.

 
Take Action Today!
 
Contact your Senators NOW to advocate for funding for OAA programs and services. Read USAging’s letter to the Senate and use our grassroots templates to customize your asks to reflect your agency/program: AAA template, Title VI template. Give your Senators a sense of how their communities are affected—take the time to localize what this funding means for the older adults and caregivers in your community, tribe or state. Check out USAging’s FY 2025 appropriations campaign page for additional resources.
 
STEP 1: Put Your Requests in Writing! Send a letter requesting their support. Putting the letter on your agency’s letterhead is ideal, but if that is not feasible, send it from your Advisory Board or even yourself as a private citizen. Or do all three! Use our templates (AAA/Title VI) but customize to your agency/community. Send the letter via email to their DC and district offices. You can find the contact information on your Senators’ websites: www.senate.gov.
 
STEP 2: Make Your Support for OAA Funding Public. Find out whether any of your agency’s stakeholders know the Members of Congress serving your community or if they will be seeing them at any virtual events. If so, ask that they put in a good word for OAA funding and its impact in your community. 
 
STEP 3: Schedule Meetings with Your Senators. Request virtual meetings; all you have to do is ask! (Tip: Put the request in writing. Call or email the DC office to ensure your request gets to the scheduler.)
 
STEP 4: Engage Your Provider Network. Urge your vendors/providers, advisory board members and other important stakeholders to send their own letters to Congress. Please do all you can to amplify the message and engage others who understand the value of OAA in their community and how funding cuts would affect the older adults you serve! Forward this Alert to your networks or edit it to be best received by your agency’s advocates.
 
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If you have questions or concerns about this Advocacy Alert or USAging’s policy positions, please contact Amy Gotwals, Olivia Umoren and Seth Ickes at policy@usaging.org.