On March 16, Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing Chair Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) introduced the Broadband Justice Act of 2021.
The bill would provide $5 billion to expand affordable broadband access to millions of families living in federally subsidized housing, including HUD, USDA Rural Housing Service, and Low Income Housing Tax Credit housing.
The American Rescue Plan contains several provisions directing money to state and local governments. This article is meant to help LeadingAge members navigate and understand where these dollars are going and which provisions are applicable to aging services and older adults.
Provisions That Could Help Fund Aging Services
March 10, 2021, Washington, DC—With vaccinations well under way in nursing homes and long-term care, four leading aging services organizations urged the Biden Administration, as a matter of equity, to prioritize other vulnerable older Americans in urgent need of vaccinations—including homebound older people—as well as those who work in aging services.
Contact: Lisa Sanders
lsanders@leadingage.org 202-508-9407
We represent more than 5,000 aging-focused organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we address critical issues by blending applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building. We bring together the most inventive minds in our field to support older adults as they age wherever they call home. We make America a better place to grow old. For more information: www.leadingage.org
As of March 10, the Senate and House have passed (on March 6 and March 10, respectively) the American Rescue Plan Act. President Biden is expected to sign the bill quickly. The bill is based on his Administration’s own American Rescue Plan outline and is replete with funds and programs critical to aging services providers and the older adults they serve as the nation continues to grapple with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The House Committee on Financial Services held a March 10 hearing on, “Justice for All: Achieving Racial Equity Through Fair Access to Housing and Financial Services.”
The American Rescue Plan is on track to become law by the end of the week.
The Senate updated and passed the American Rescue Plan on March 6, and the House passed the updated bill on March 10. The President is expected to sign the bill into law by March 12.
March 3, 2021, Washington, DC—In the wake of COVID legislation passed by the House of Representatives this weekend that lacks desperately needed support for older Americans, a key aging services leader called on Senators to step up support for and prioritize older adults and care providers who have been most vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic.
Contact Susan Donley
sdonley@leadingage.org
We represent more than 5,000 aging-focused organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we address critical issues by blending applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building. We bring together the most inventive minds in our field to support older adults as they age wherever they call home. We make America a better place to grow old. For more information: www.leadingage.org
Our approach begins with providers—thousands of people working at life plan communities, assisted living, memory care, nursing homes, adult day centers, PACE programs, home care and hospice agencies, and other settings on the front lines of care and services. We host LeadingAge Town Hall Conversations across the country, listening to members’ policy challenges and considering solutions together. These sessions, held virtually in 2020, were deeply colored by the battle aging services providers are waging with COVID.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced at the outset of the Biden Administration that they anticipate extending the public health emergency (PHE) through at least the end of 2021. They said they would give 60 days’ notice prior to the termination of the PHE – this does NOT mean that providers have 60 days post the end of the PHE before the waivers end. That is a point of some confusion.
