Published in RINewsToday on August 3, 2026
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just changing how we work and communicate. It is rapidly transforming how criminals steal money from older Americans. Last week, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging examined how AI-generated scams—from cloned audio to realistic deepfake videos—are creating an alarming new wave of fraud powered by artificial intelligence.
The afternoon hearing in room SD-562 dealt with AI-driven scams and financial exploitation. Since AI was introduced, the world of scams has changed significantly because criminals can now produce highly convincing deepfake videos and imitate voices with very little effort or technical knowledge, making them even harder to detect.
Taking a Closer Look at Computer-Generated Scams
The 83-minute hearing, held on Wednesday, July 29, featured testimony from victims who experienced devastating voice-cloning and deepfake fraud, medical professionals whose identities were weaponized, and experts from banking, cybersecurity, and consumer protection sectors who offered suggestions on combating it.
Scams have advanced far beyond annoying phone calls and deceiving emails,” says Chairman Rick Scott (R-FL) in his opening remarks. “AI can also be used to clone someone’s voice, a terrifying development that has been used in heartbreaking and evil ways to impersonate a loved one and deceive their family,” he says.
The Florida senator cautions that scams, fraud, and financial exploitation are now the main problem confronting seniors across the country. “With the development of AI, scammers have obtained new tools for carrying out their criminal activities, and we need to adjust our response to these emerging threats,” he stated.
Like Scott, Ranking Member Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) expressed concern about the use of AI in scamming older adults. “By making it easier for bad actors to clone voices, fabricate images, and deceive targets, AI has facilitated an alarming rise in financial scams that rob our seniors of their hard-earned savings and personal information,” she said.
To combat the growing threat of technology-assisted fraud and scams, Senators Smith and Gillibrand called for strengthening the federal government’s ability to crack down on scammers and for Congress to pass legislation to promote the responsible development of AI.
Personal Stories, Calls on Congress to Tackle Issue
Dr. David Amron, the founder and medical director of the Roxbury Institute in Los Angeles, California, and founder and chair of the Lipedema, told lawmakers how he discovered that scammers in the summer of 2025 had taken real footage from his YouTube channel and combined it with digitally fabricated likenesses and the voice of a colleague as well as AI generated celebrity images and stolen media logos, to create a polished advertisement that appeared to be entirely legitimate.
Dr. Amron, who has treated patients with lipedema for more than three decades, testified that his office began receiving calls from people who watched a convincing video showing him endorsing a so-called “miracle” lipedema cream. Several had already purchased the product before realizing it was fraudulent.
Even after an 11-day battle with Meta, a Today Show investigation ultimately led to the removal of the fraudulent video. Dr. Amron’s frustration was that it kept resurfacing, underscoring how persistent and difficult it is to remove AI-enabled fraud schemes.
“The consequences extend far beyond financial loss,” remarked Dr. Amron, noting that patients may delay getting needed medical care to treat a progressive disease (like lipedema), placing their trust in unproven products and fraudulent services.
During the hearing, Dr. Amron urged lawmakers to strengthen protections against computer-generated impersonations, improve accountability for those who create and distribute them, and ensure laws keep pace with AI technology. He argued that pressure must be placed on platforms that host fraudulent content, stating they “have to have consequences.”
While Dr. Amron described how criminals easily use technology-assisted fraud to exploit public trust in medical professionals, the next witness described how voice cloning took a devastating emotional toll on her family.
Deborah Del Mastro, a Martinez, California resident, recounted a phone call she received last May during breakfast. This cloned call of her daughter crying and apologizing, from an unrecognized phone number, began a five-and-a-half-hour ordeal.
“I am usually very, very calm and collected in the face of crisis,” Mastro told the Senators, noting that she is always the person who “runs to the fire, now away from it.” She was totally convinced that she heard her daughter’s voice.
The veteran, living on a Social Security check and performance income made from acting and singing, with Mastro and her husband pulling a total of $ 5,400 cash from four separate transactions from MoneyGram and Western Union to send to Mexico.
Local police told Mastro that the “ransom” funds are unrecoverable. A detective told her that he “sees these by the hundreds.”
Education is key to protecting people from AI scams, asserts Mastro, telling the Senate panel that there is an absence of publicly available resources on how to protect yourself from AI-driven scams as opposed to the abundance of resources on how to use the emerging technology.
Financial institutions are also witnessing the rapid evolution of AI-driven scams. Paul Benda, the Executive Vice President for Risk, Fraud, and Cybersecurity of the American Bankers Association (ABA), describes how criminals are using AI to expand the scale and sophistication of traditional scams.
Benda, who chairs the ABA Fraud Coordination Group, reframes the new, evolving AI-driven scams not as a story of misused technology but as an industrial one.
“Generative AI is not replacing traditional scams. It is industrializing,” Benda asserts.
Benda explained that criminals are now using chatbots to initiate conversations before seamlessly handing victims off to human scammers once they become engaged. A survey of 14 large banks found that bank impersonation scams rose 150% from 2024 to 2025, Banta said, illustrating this growing threat.
Benda encouraged Congress to establish a national office for scams and fraud prevention, describing it as necessary to provide clear and national leadership to attack this problem. He also called for stronger telecom safeguards to keep criminals off calling networks and to restore trust in caller ID. He argued that if a name and number appear on caller ID, the telecom provider should be held accountable if it is accurate.
At this point, the hearing turned from personal and industry experiences to the broader cybersecurity challenges posed by this rapidly advancing technology.
Cybersecurity expert Matthew F. Ferraro, a Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP and a former official at the Department of Human Services, personally testified at this hearing, noting that his views do not represent his firm or clients.
Ferraro argued that “deepfakes can supercharge scams and cyber frauds, especially targeting senior citizens.” According to an industry report, financial losses from deepfake-enabled fraud exceeded $200 million in the first quarter of 2025.
Citing another study, Ferraro further illustrated the cost of AI-generated fraud. Consulting firm Deloitte expects that generative AI could enable fraud losses to reach $40 billion in the United States by 2027, he said.
In his testimony, Ferraro pointed out a successful national educational model to combat AI scams. Finland has integrated media literacy and AI-media spotting training into educational programs for both young and old.
Ferraro urged lawmakers to promote AI detection tools and provenance technology that tags media as human-created or AI-generated, comparing the potential to email spam filters operating in the background.
Ferraro concluded that stronger coordination among federal and state governments, law enforcement, and the private sector is essential for policymakers to successfully attack this problem and stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated fraud operations.
Holding Big Tech Accountable
While several witnesses focused on prevention and consumer education, another argued that Congress must also hold technology companies more accountable.
“I want to be clear that the devastating deception we’re seeing is not a result of technological ineptitude for older users…but rather a crisis emboldened by the biggest tech companies we know paired with a failure to rein them in,” charges Ben Winters, Director of AI and Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America.
“This is not an issue of personal responsibility, but something Congress is uniquely positioned to address,” says Winters.
Winters urged Congress to reject any legislative proposals that would prohibit states from regulating technology or limit tech company liability – characterizing such proposals as being “pushed by tech companies right now.”
Winters also recommended passing comprehensive data privacy laws with data minimization requirements and bans on the sale of sensitive data – specifically citing the practice of selling lists of people battling Alzheimer’s for targeting purposes as something that must be prohibited.
Winters supported the other witnesses’ call for sustained oversight of enforcement agencies to ensure that the federal government remains totally focused on upstream prevention of scams – “choking out the scam upstream, not just chasing individual scammers after the fact.”
The hearing also underscored that no family, not even a U.S. Senator’s family, is immune from these increasingly convincing scams.
Senate Aging Committee Member, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) disclosed that his mother-in-law was scammed by a voice clone impersonating his granddaughter, sending $10,000 to someone claiming to be stranded in Europe.
Report Sheds Light on AI-Driven Scams, Impact
At this hearing, Chairman Scott (R-FL) and Ranking Member Gillibrand released a joint report: Artificial Intelligence & Older Americans: Confronting New Threats, Unlocking New Opportunities. The document details both the potential benefits of AI and the unique financial risks it poses to older Americans.
The 25-page report cited research, shedding light on the negatives of this emerging technology. Americans reported nearly $21 billion in cybercrime losses in 2026, with $893 million tied to AI-enabled scams across more than 22,000 complaints. More than 82 percent of phishing emails are now created with the help of AI.
Recognizing warning signs early can potentially prevent huge financial losses from AI-enabled fraud. Any unsolicited contact by phone, text, email, or social media should be treated with immediate skepticism, regardless of how professional it looks or how urgent its message appears, the report warns.
Slow down and pause before acting, the report recommends. Review your financial accounts regularly for unauthorized transactions and set up transaction alerts through your financial institution. For protection, the report notes that the Federal Trade Commission recommends placing a free credit freeze on all three major credit card bureaus.
Any payment requests can be a red flag for a scam. Any request for payment by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or cash is a clear indicator of fraud, the report notes.
AI-simulated threats using deepfakes and voice cloning can replicate a loved one’s voice or image to perpetrate financial fraud. The report suggests that a family code word or verbal safe phrase be used to verify the identity when a family member appears to be calling in. AI voice cloning or deepfakes.
Finally, the Senate Aging Committee report stresses the importance of reporting fraud, recommending that victims contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-336.
On a positive note, older persons using AI company devices experienced a 95 percent drop in feelings of loneliness, along with substantial gains in overall well-being. This technology can also potentially reduce preventable adverse drug reactions, lower hospitalization costs, and improve the quality of life of millions of older persons managing multiple chronic conditions.
Increased efficiency through the use of AI scribes saves physicians time on administrative paperwork, increasing productivity and allowing them to spend more quality time with their older patients.
Meanwhile, AI use in clinical decision-making can improve sepsis detection, improve cancer diagnosis, and help the physician understand multiple drug interactions, all of which have a significant impact on providing care to older adults.
Finally, the report notes that AI use to reduce falls, to track vital signs, medication adherence, sleep patterns, and activity levels can help older adults age in place.
As lawmakers continue debating how best to regulate AI, one message clearly emerged repeatedly during the hearing: technology will continue evolving, but awareness remains the strongest defense. For older Americans, taking a moment to verify an unexpected phone call, text, or email may well be the simplest—and most effective—way to avoid becoming the next victim.
To watch the Senate Aging Committee AI hearing, go to https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/the-ai-deception-machine-deepfakes-chatbots-and-the-new-frontier-of-senior-fraud
To read the Joint Senate Aging Committee AI report, go to FINAL VERSION AI Report.
Georgia poll once again shows tightest races rest on Voters Over 50
Published in RINewsToday on July 27, 2026
With just over three months until the 2026 midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3, control of both the U.S. House and Senate chambers could hinge on the gray vote—Americans age 50 and older—one of the nation’s most reliable voting blocs.
That was the key takeaway message delivered during AARP’s July 23 virtual media briefing, where the Washington, D.C.-based organization released the findings of its latest bipartisan battleground-state survey examining Georgia’s closely watched and contested governor’s and U.S. Senate races.
According to AARP, Georgia is the second state in its 2026 battleground polling series, following Ohio, whose survey was released on June 25. Additional surveys are scheduled for Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Texas to be released before the upcoming midterm elections. The bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward (R) and Impact Research (D) was commissioned to conduct these surveys.
The Georgia poll findings suggest that voters age 50 and older are once again poised to play a very decisive role in determining the state’s election outcomes in one of the nation’s premier battleground states.
In Georgia’s May 19 primary election, voters age 50 and older cast 68% of all ballots. The survey also found that 88% of voters age 50 and older rated themselves a “10” on a 10-point motivation-to-vote scale, compared with 62% of voters under age 50. These findings reinforce a long-established demographic trend: older Americans remain among the nation’s most dependable and motivated voters and are likely to have a significant impact on the November election.
The Power of the Gray Vote
“Voters age 50 and older will decide this November’s Georgia races,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer, in announcing the poll’s release. “Candidates who speak directly to the issues these voters care about most—including rising prices, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and lowering health care costs—will have the greatest opportunity to earn their support,” she explained.
During the nearly 30-minute morning briefing, AARP Georgia State Director Vanessa Payne joined Republican pollster Bob Ward of Fabrizio Ward and Democratic pollster Matt Hogan of Impact Research to discuss the poll’s findings and what they reveal about the priorities of older Georgia voters. Jen Jones, AARP’s Vice President of Government Affairs, participated during the Q&A to address questions, particularly around Social Security and retirement security, drawing on broader AARP research beyond the Georgia polls. Ilse Zuniga, AARP’s Director of External Relations, moderated this briefing.
According to the new AARP poll, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms leads Republican Rick Jackson, 48% to 46%, in the governor’s race, within the poll’s margin of error. Age remains one of the race’s defining dividing lines. Jackson leads by 13 percentage points among voters age 50 and older, driven by strong support from voters age 65 and older, while Bottoms holds a 23-point advantage among voters under age 50.
The survey also examined Georgia’s competitive U.S. Senate race, one which could prove critical in determining which party controls the Senate. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff leads Republican Rep. Mike Collins, 52% to 43%. Ossoff enjoys a 30-point advantage among voters under age 50 and a narrow lead among voters ages 50 to 64, while Collins holds a 24-point advantage among voters age 65 and older. The poll’s findings found that age 50 and older remain a key swing constituency, while Ossoff leads among swing voters age 50 and older by 23 percentage points.
Opening the media briefing, Payne emphasized that AARP’s mission is not to predict election winners or tell voters how to cast their ballots.
“Our mission isn’t to tell people how to vote or who will win,” Payne said. “It’s to ensure that the priorities of Georgia’s voters age 50 and older, the largest and most reliable voting bloc in our state, are part of the conversation throughout the election season.”
Payne remarked that Georgia has become one of the nation’s most competitive battleground states, where narrow margins often decide statewide elections.
“One in eight voters over 50 are swing voters, making them one of the most influential voting blocs in this election,” she observed. “Georgians are focused on key issues affecting their daily lives—from protecting Social Security and Medicare to managing the rising cost of living. Candidates who understand those priorities will be best positioned to earn their votes,” she added.
Although older voters represent every political persuasion, Payne noted that they share many of the same concerns.
“What unites them isn’t party affiliation,” she said. “It’s a shared focus on protecting their financial security, maintaining their health and being able to live as independently as possible as they age.”
Democratic strategist Matt Hogan agreed with Payne that voters age 50 and older are likely to determine the outcome of Georgia’s upcoming midterm elections.
“Voters 50-plus will be the deciders in the Georgia election,” Hogan predicted. “The share who say they are extremely motivated to vote is 26 percentage points higher among voters 50-plus than among voters under 50,” he said.
Hogan also pointed to a significant shift in voter sentiment on the generic congressional ballot.
“Democrats now lead by a seven-point margin, with that shift especially pronounced among independents, who now favor Democrats by an 18-point margin on the generic ballot,” he said, noting “That’s a 26-point swing from 2024.”
“It’s Social Security & Medicare, Stupid”
Turning to the issues driving older voters, Republican strategist Bob Ward stressed that financial security remains at the center of their concerns. “Seniors, those voters 65 and older, are equally concerned about immigration and protecting Social Security and Medicare, which are very much economic issues for older voters,” Ward explained.
“More than two-thirds of seniors tell us that Social Security makes up a major part of their income. It’s a big deal,” he added. “The importance of Social Security continues to rise to the top and will be just as influential on older voters this fall as rising prices,” he says.
Ward also noted broad bipartisan support for lowering prescription drug costs through Medicare.
“Fighting to lower prescription drug prices by expanding Medicare’s drug price negotiations is a winner on both sides of the political aisle,” Ward said, noting that 87 % of voters say they would be more likely to support a candidate who expands Medicare drug negotiations.
The poll found that among voters age 50 and older, 48% said Social Security is or will become a major source of household income. An overwhelming 92% said they would be more likely to support a candidate who will ensure they receive the Social Security benefits they earned through a lifetime of work.
Reflecting national polling trends, the survey findings indicated that grocery prices remain the affordability issue weighing most heavily on older Georgians.
“Voters in Georgia worry about the price of groceries more than any other issue, and that concern cuts across every political and demographic subgroup,” Ward said.
AARP’s poll also found respondents expressed a growing concern about the impact of expanding artificial intelligence data centers on household utility bills. Seventy-five percent expressed concern that new AI data centers could increase residential electric rates, while 85% said policymakers should ensure those costs are not passed on to residential utility customers.
A Final Note…
AARP’s Georgia battleground poll sends a clear message to candidates running for the U.S. Senate and Congress: older voters remain one of the nation’s most reliable and influential voting blocs. They vote consistently, they are highly motivated, and they are focused on issues that directly affect their financial security and quality of life.
AARP notes that in every election since 2002—the first year voting data by age became available—Americans age 65 and older have voted at higher rates than younger age groups.
Protecting Social Security and Medicare, lowering prescription drug costs, keeping groceries affordable, and controlling rising utility bills are not simply campaign talking points. For many older American voters, they are everyday concerns that will influence how they will cast their ballots in November.
Political observers have long referred to Social Security as the “third rail” of American politics. The phrase comes from the electrified third rail that powers many rail systems—touch it, and the consequences can be fatal. In politics, this metaphor suggests that proposals perceived as threatening Social Security can carry equally serious political consequences. While people usually attribute the phrase to U.S. Sen.Tip O’Neill, William Safire documented in The New York Times that O’Neill’s chief counsel, Kirk O’Donnell, actually coined it.
As voters in Georgia, Ohio, and the other battleground states head to the polls this November, the 2026 midterm elections may once again test whether Social Security remains America’s political third rail. When the dust settles, we’ll see whether older voters reward candidates who they believe will protect Social Security and Medicare—or reject those they believe will weaken these programs.
AARP’s Georgia battleground poll, conducted by the bipartisan team of Fabrizio Ward (R) and Impact Research (D), surveyed 1,060 likely Georgia voters between July 13 and July 16, 2026, using live telephone interviews and SMS-to-web methodology. According to the pollsters, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
For more information, contact Kate Bridges at kbridges@aarp.org.
Additional information about AARP’s 2026 battleground polling series is available at https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/voter-research/politics/2026-midterm-election-polls/?msockid=31611274a2d760231f7a0578a3f86192.
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New Laws Benefiting Older Rhode Islanders from this Legislative Session
Published in RINewsToday on July 20, 2026
A new group of bills, signed by Gov. Dan McKee, delivers notable benefits for older Rhode Islanders. The new laws focus on three main goals: boosting financial security, expanding healthcare access, and cracking down on fraud and scams targeting seniors.
Rhode Island General Assembly leadership convened this year’s legislative session on Jan. 6 that ran until June 11, with lawmakers working right up until 11:59 a.m. on their final day. Over those five months, the Senate logged 43 days on the floor, while the House logged 45.
In a joint statement, Senate President Valarie J. Lawson (D-Dist.14, East Providence) and House Speaker Christopher R. Blazejewski (D-Dist. 2, Providence) pointed out one of the session’s most significant legislative accomplishments – eliminating the state income tax on Social Security benefits for all low- and moderate-income Rhode Islanders who receive them, regardless of their age.
“We also strengthened protections against scams and financial exploitation, advanced consumer protections, and passed legislation to improve access to affordable, high-quality health care,” they said, stressing that more work remains.
“As we continue to prepare for the impacts of federal funding cuts to vital state programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), we must remain vigilant in protecting the services that many older Rhode Islanders depend on,” they added. “We remain committed to working with our partners to address the many challenges facing older Rhode Islanders and to advancing policies that protect their financial security, support healthy aging, and enhance the quality of life for every senior in our state.”
A Strong Year for Aging Issues
More than 2,450 bills were introduced during the 2026 legislative session – 1,157 in the Senate and 1,297 in the House. Excluding resolutions, which were largely congratulatory in nature or recognized prominent Rhode Island residents, only 249 measures ultimately cleared both chambers to reach the Governor’s desk for signature.
Among the most important actions affecting Rhode Islanders was the adoption of the state’s $15.2 billion Fiscal Year 2027 budget. The new spending plan includes a number of provisions benefiting older adults, caregivers, and aging-service providers. It eliminates age thresholds to exempt Social Security income from state taxes, increases Medicaid reimbursement rates for dementia care and other providers, and boosts funding for Meals on Wheels and senior centers.
But the enacted budget was only part of this year’s legislative story. Lawmakers also approved a number of bills that Gov. Dan McKee signed into law, addressing health care, consumer protection, retirement security, and services that help older Rhode Islanders remain independent in their homes and communities.
Among the new laws signed by Gov. McKee are the following:
The General Assembly approved legislation (S 3282, H 8595) sponsored by Senate President Lawson and Rep. Michelle McGaw (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton) to ensure that Medicare patients over 65 years old are eligible for all Medicare supplemental coverage programs, regardless of preexisting conditions. Under the new law, every Medicare recipient over 65 will have at least one month each calendar year to enroll in any Medigap plan without undergoing medical underwriting. That means older adults cannot be denied coverage – or charged higher premiums because of preexisting conditions if they switch plans during that enrollment period.
Rep. Jennifer Boylan (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence) and Sen. Lori Urso (D-Dist. 8, Pawtucket) sponsored successful legislation (H 7029A, S 2116A) to help homebound patients access routine foot care at home. The new law allows routine foot care in patients’ homes, provided the provider has received proper training and demonstrates clinical competence. The new measure addresses unmet needs for basic, routine, and preventive foot care at home. Many older adults and people with disabilities need medical assistance for routine foot care, including noninvasive maintenance of toenails, common corns, and calluses.
Legislation (S 2026, H 8171A) from Sen. Victoria Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown) and Rep. Justine Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich), now law, creates a Medicaid pilot program that leverages medically tailored meals and other nutritional supports to improve the health of those with chronic, diet-related conditions. This coverage could take the form of produce prescriptions, vouchers, or medically tailored meals, prescribed by medical professionals for persons with diet-related diseases or food insecurity. It could also include clinical nutrition education.
Legislation (H 8060A, S 3338) introduced by Rep. Joseph J. Solomon, Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) and Sen. Matthew L. LaMountain (D-Dist. 31, Warwick, Cranston), now enacted, strengthens the state’s laws to fight identity fraud and emerging forms of digital deception. The act defines “digital forgery” as participating in the generation, creation, or distribution of a computer-generated visual or audio representation intended to deceive people.
Gov. McKee signed legislation (H 7613A, S 2810A) sponsored by Rep. Alex D. Marszalkowski (D-Dist. 52, Cumberland) and Sen. Lammis Vargas (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence) that would protect tax filers from fraudulent or illegal tax preparation services. This new law imposes penalties on tax preparers who intentionally mislead their clients or act as ghost preparers for tax returns. It would also require the tax administrator to publish a list of tax preparers whose privileges to prepare returns have been revoked or suspended.
The Act (H 7551aa, S 2715A) introduced by House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly) and Senate President Lawson would criminalize deed theft. Additionally, it would allow municipalities to refuse to record “suspicious documents” submitted by untrusted submitters. Deed theft usually involves forged documents, such as a quit-claim deed, to record a phony transfer of property ownership. Scammers may then attempt to sell the stolen vacant land or home, or even rent it, to turn a profit, forcing the real owners to head to court to reclaim their property.
The enacted measure (H 7837, S 2878) sponsored by Rep. Caldwell and Senate President Pro Tempore Hanna M. Gallo (D-Dist. 27, Cranston, West Warwick) would improve the oral health of homebound older Rhode Islanders by expanding reimbursement eligibility for public health dental hygienists. Currently, dental hygienists’ services are reimbursable only through Medicaid and insurance plans purchased through HealthSource RI. The new law allows public health dental hygienists to be paid directly by Medicare and other insurers for services provided in the home to older adults who lack transportation or mobility to visit a dentist.
This enacted legislation (H 7475, S 3086), sponsored by Rep. Evan P. Shanley (D-Dist. 24, Warwick, East Greenwich) and Sen. Meghan E. Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence), enacts technical amendments to the Rhode Island Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program Act. These structural modifications, which improve daily operations enable the retirement board to enhance the program’s efficiency and reach and strengthen interstate partnerships. Secure Choice, which offers employees of small businesses access to a portable, Roth-IRA-type retirement accounts through automatic payroll deduction, was enacted last year.
We’ll Be Back
According to Carol Costa, Executive Director of the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI (SACRI), this year’s General Assembly approved several important measures supporting aging in place, including bills on foot care and dental hygienists. She also believes the Food as Medicine legislation will have a tremendous impact on homebound older Rhode Islanders.
Costa noted that consumer protection bills which were signed into law are also laudable, including the enacted bill (H 8106, S 2644), that was introduced by Rep. Stephen M. Casey (D-Dist. 50, Woonsocket) and Sens. Melissa Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) and Brian J. Thompson (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland) restricting deed covenants on grocery stores addressing anti-competitive deed restrictions. The bills were originally created and pushed forward at the request of Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos as part of her “Fair Price Grocery Agenda”.
SACRI applauds the enactment of legislation (H 7020, S 3180) sponsored by Rep. Jon D. Brien (I-Dist. 49, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) and Sen. Thompson that establishes the framework for veterinary telemedicine in Rhode Island. “It is a good law to help homebound older Rhode Islanders to take better care of their pets,” Costa says. The new law requires Rhode Island-licensed veterinarians to obtain client consent before establishing an electronic relationship and to keep records for one year. Providers must clearly display services and standard fees on their websites.
Workforce development also got a boost this year with passage of the Healthcare Worker Platform Act (H 7030B, S 2107A), says Costa. Sponsored by Rep. Shanley and Sen. Jacob E. Bissaillon (D-Dist. 1, Providence), the new law creates a digital platform that connects qualified healthcare workers with open shifts at healthcare facilities. The platform allows licensed healthcare professionals to identify and accept available shifts, helping healthcare providers fill staffing gaps more quickly and efficiently. “Creating a workforce platform is a positive step that enables quicker access to long-term care staffing,” says Costa.
“SACRI will be supporting bills that did not get over the finish line this session by pushing them on day one,” says Costa, noting that in the next session, the coalition will push for the passage of the removal of the MSP Asset test, the creation of the Office of the Elder Advocate, and making the Rep. Lauren H. Carson’s (D-Dist. 75, Newport) House Study Commission on Aging or House Commission Studying Services and Programs for Older Adults a permanent commission.
“SACRI is reflecting on a year of dedicated advocacy while turning its focus to the work ahead,” explains Costa. “While some major legislative priorities did not make it across the finish line this year, we remain committed to dismantling barriers for Rhode Island’s older adults and individuals with disabilities,” she says.
“While SACRI didn’t secure 100% of all we fought for this past session, our resolve is stronger than ever to push for passage in the General Assembly,” says Costa, stressing that the legislation is vital to the economic security and protection of our older adults. “SACRI will be there to advocate forcefully until they become law,” she said.
For more information about the states’ Fiscal Year 2027 budget, see my article in RI News Today. Go to https://rinewstoday.com/ri-budget-win-for-older-adults-by-herb-weiss.
Read about AARP Rhode Island’s advocacy on bills that were signed into law this legislative session. Go to
https://www.aarp.org/states/rhode-island/rhode-island-2026-legislative-win
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Herb Weiss 