August 21, 2024 Advocacy Alert




Congress Home for Recess—Engage Your Representatives to Push OAA Reauthorization Forward! 


August 21, 2024
Snapshot  
(A 30-second read for busy people) 
  • Last month, the Senate HELP Committee passed the OAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The USAging-endorsed bill cited many of USAging’s priorities, including contracting and AAA independence.  
  • Our attention has now moved to the House and their OAA reauthorization process. Members of Congress are at home for August recess, offering the perfect time to reach out to House members.  
  • Action Needed: Please engage with your Representatives in person this month to ensure they understand the importance of OAA reauthorization for the older adults and caregivers you serve! Consult our 2024 OAA Reauthorization Campaign Toolkit for resources to assist with this effort. 

July was a busy month in the Senate with the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and Aging Committees running full steam ahead for OAA reauthorization! A few weeks ago, the HELP Committee passed the OAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The bill reflects seven months of advocacy by USAging, our members and others, as well as the active engagement of eight HELP Committee Senators and their staff members who serve on a bipartisan OAA working group.  

USAging endorsed the bill (S.4776), citing the many USAging priorities that are fully or partially incorporated in the reauthorization bill. OAA reauthorization bills typically don’t come to a floor vote until there is agreement between the House and the Senate on a final bill, so this Senate HELP Committee bill is unlikely to break with tradition. Therefore, our advocacy focus will shift to the House effective immediately. 
 
What Is Needed?
 
Though the Senate has been very active in the OAA reauthorization process, many of their counterparts in the House have yet to begin their own discussions to move this forward. However, a few members in the House have started their work on OAA reauthorization, and with Members of Congress home in their states and local communities for August recess, now is the time to engage them in person!  
 
Take Action Today!

Contact your Representatives NOW to advocate for OAA reauthorization. Read USAging’s endorsement letter to the Senate, and use our grassroots template letter, which you can customize to reflect your agency/program asks. Give your Representatives a sense of how their communities are affected—take the time to localize what OAA reauthorization means for the older adults and caregivers in your community, tribe or state. Check out USAging’s 2024 OAA Reauthorization Campaign Page for additional resources. 

STEP 1: Put your requests in writing! Send a letter requesting your lawmaker’s 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 template 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 Representatives’ websites.

STEP 2: Make your support for OAA reauthorization public. Find out whether any of your agency’s stakeholders know the Representatives 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 reauthorization and its impact in your community. 

STEP 3: Schedule meetings with your Representatives. Your Representatives are home this month for August recess! Use this opportunity to request in-person meetings and invite them to your agency, town hall or any other opportunity for them to see the impact of OAA on the ground. If you are unable to get an in-person meeting, request a virtual meeting instead; 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 the House. Please do all you can to amplify the message and engage others who understand the value of OAA in their community! 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.


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