Tag Archives for bipartisian

Seniors in hock over credit card debt. Cap attempt a rare tri-partisan (D), (I), (R) effort

Published in RINewsToday on March 24, 2025

Over two weeks ago, a new AARP survey revealed that 47% of respondents who carry credit card debt use their credit cards to pay for basic living expenses that they do not have enough money to cover.  Seventeen percent of these individuals relied on using their credit card to cover month to month expenses of daily living over the last year.

These findings, detailed in the 47-page report, “Credit and Debt and Adults Age 50 Plus,” put a spot light on credit card debt as now the most common type of debt held by adults age 50 plus, including many at all income levels. The survey results drive home the point that rising costs of basic expenses for food, housing and utilities, along with skyrocketing health care costs and unexpected financial burdens, are quickly chipping away at the financial well-being of older Americans in their retirement years.

AARP’s credit card survey also found that 37% of older adults with credit card debt report that they have more credit card debt than a year ago. Nearly half (48%) of older adults who carry a credit card balance from month-to-month owe $5,000 or more, and 28% carry a balance of $10,000 or more. Almost 9 in 10 respondents (87%) say that unexpected expenses contribute to their credit card debt.

“A concerning number of older adults carry credit card debt today just to make ends meet,” said Indira Venkat, AARP Senior Vice President of Research in a statement released on March 10, 2025 announcing the findings of this survey. “Credit card debt can jeopardize retirement security. For many retirees, who often live on a fixed income, it’s a real challenge to pay down debt without significant trade-offs,” she says.

The survey also found that older adults are the most likely to carry a monthly balance, including people ages 50-64, those with incomes under $40,000, as well as Black and Hispanic/Latino older adults. More than half (52%) of adults ages 50-64 have credit card debt. Significant portions of those ages 65-74 (42%) and 75 and older (35%) also carry credit card debt.

Credit card debt results in long-term financial strain of the older card holder. Among those who are worried about their credit card debt, the survey found that 43% are very worried about how long it will take to pay off their debt. Roughly 1 in 5 expect to take more than five years to pay it off. The top drivers of credit card debt include everyday expenses, including vehicle costs, housing costs, and health care.

Fifty percent of the respondents say that health care expenses have contributed to their credit card debt, noted the survey findings. Among this group, the biggest medical expenses contributing to debt are dental expenses (46%), prescription drugs (35%), and vision care (19%)

And, twenty-three percent say they are still paying off balances on cancelled credit cards. As a result, forty-six percent say credit cards have hurt their ability to save for the future.

Bipartisan efforts on Capitol Hill to cap high credit card interest rates

With credit card interest at an all-time high, carrying high-interest credit card debt month-to-month can be risky for those who struggle with paying of the balance as the interest accrues.

This financial issue brings together two strange bedfellows— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)  a democratic socialist advocating for progressive policies like universal healthcare and wealth redistribution, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a conservative populist focused on nationalism, traditional values, and limiting government intervention—to cap high credit interest rates.

On Feb. 4, 2025, the Senators introduced their bipartisan legislation, S. 381, the 10 percent Credit Interest Rate Cap Act, that caps credit card interest rates at 10% for five years to provide financial relief to consumers facing high interest debt.  Later, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) would become a cosponsor.

S. 381 was referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for consideration.  A companion measure, H.R. 1944 was introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

The legislation responds to concerns about rising credit card debt, which reached a record $1.17 trillion in the third quarter of 2024. At that time, the average credit card interest rate was approximately 28.6%, significantly higher than the proposed 10% cap.

Capping high interest rates can easily help credit older adults, burdened by credit card debt.  According to Sander’s statement, “If a consumer has a $5,000 credit card balance with a 28% interest rate and can only afford to make the minimum payment of $166 a month it would take that person over 24 years to pay off and would cost nearly $11,000 in interest. If credit card interest rates were capped to 10%, that same consumer would save over $7,000 in interest.

“During the campaign, President Donald J. Trump pledged to cap credit card interest rates at ten percent,” Sanders said. “When large financial institutions charge over 25 percent interest on credit cards, they are not engaged in the business of making credit available. They are engaged in extortion and loan sharking. We cannot continue to allow big banks to make huge profits ripping off the American people. This legislation will provide working families struggling to pay their bills with desperately needed financial relief,” he says.

“Working Americans are drowning in record credit card debt while the biggest credit card issuers get richer and richer by hiking their interest rates to the moon. It’s not just wrong, it’s exploitative. And it needs to end,” said Hawley. “Capping credit card interest rates at 10%, just like President Trump campaigned on, is a simple way to provide meaningful relief to working people. Let’s do it,” he said.

While the bill aims to alleviate the financial burden on consumers, the American Bankers Association (ABA) argues that such a cap would have a devastating effect on access to credit for individuals and small business owners who use their personal credit cards as a form of liquidity by imposing an all-in annual percentage rate cap at 10 percent.  A cap on credit card interest rates is a price control on credit that will lead to credit shortages for consumers, charges ABA.

Reaching across the aisle 

On Sept. 18, 2024, at Uniondale, New York, at a campaign rally GOP presidential nominee, President Trump, then candidate Trump, promised to cap interest rates at 10% to provide temporary and immediate relief for hardworking Americans who are struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford hefty interest payments on top of the skyrocketing costs of mortgages, rent, groceries and gas.

As duly elected President, now Trump has the opportunity to work with Senators Sanders and Hawley and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to put an end to hefty interest payments as he promised over six months ago on the campaign trail.  Trump now can put partisan politics behind, urging the Republican-controlled Senate and House to S. 381 and H.R. 1944 a fair committee hearing and floor vote.

Hopefully, the Rhode Island legislative delegation will quickly support the bipartisan proposals in both chambers, signing on as cosponsors.

Capping high credit card interest rates might just be one way to bring the two warring political parties together on behalf of American consumers.  Let’s see.

NOTE:  The findings of AARP’s Credit Card Debit Survey are based on a survey of 4,846 adults ages 50-plus who carry over credit card debt from a previous month, whether on active cards or cancelled cards.

To read AARP’s latest Credit Card Debt Report, to go www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/topics/work-finances-retirement/financial-security-retirement/credit-card-debt-survey.doi.10.26419-2fres.00929.001.pdf

To watch former president and GOP presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, calling for capping high interest rates on Sept. 18, 2024, go to www.c-span.org/program/campaign-2024/former-president-trump-campaigns-in-uniondale-new-york/648902

Learn more about AARP’s resources for managing money. go to  https://www.aarp.org/tools/money/?cmp=RDRCT-TOOLS-MONEYTOOLS-09262024.

First Senate Aging Committee hearing of new congress looks at wellness

Published in RINewsToday on February 3, 2025

Over a week after the 119th Congress began on Friday, Jan. 3, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) took the reins of the U.S. Special Committee on Aging, becoming its 20thchairman. He follows in the footsteps of former Chairman Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), a 3-term Democratic Senator, who lost his reelection bid for a fourth term to Republican Dave McCormick. a West Point graduate, combat veteran and bronze star recipient, a national security, expert, and former hedge fund manager.

On Wednesday afternoon, on Jan. 15 in SD 106, Scott chaired the first Senate Aging Committee hearing of the new Congress, entitled “Improving Wellness Among Seniors: Setting a Standard for the American Dream.” The hearing, lasting two hours and seven minutes, put the spotlight on America’s senior health, personal and community safety and the benefits of socializing and working later in life. 

While established in 1961 as a temporary committee, the Senate Aging Committee became a permanent Senate committee in 1977.  Over the years, aging advocates say that committee has operated in a bipartisan manor.  And the Florida Senator says he will carry on this tradition.

In his opening statement, the Republican Chairman stressed that aging is not a partisan issue. “Whether or not we’d like to admit it or note, we are all aging, and it impacts every single one of us regardless of political party” he said.

“I believe we have a big opportunity in this Committee to work in a bipartisan manner to support and improve the lives of America’s current senior citizens and create change that will improve both the lifespan and health span of future generations, said Chairman Scott, pledging that he and his staff will “work together with all the members here to find common ground and ways we can advance or shared goals.”

As chairman, Scott’s goals are to make sure every senior can say that they are physically healthy, financially secure, live in a safe community and has family and community support. “If you have all four of these things, your senior years can be the best time of your life,” he notes.

Sen. Kristin Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the ranking member who has served on the Senate Aging Committee since 2009, congratulated Scott for assuming his chairmanship position, “I look forward to working closely with you during this Congress,” she said, in her opening statement.

According to the Democratic Senator, the Senate Aging Committee has a long history of bipartisanship. “I hope we continue that tradition to advance an agenda that makes sure our loved ones can age with the support they need and with dignity and respect,” she said.

Gillibrand reported that she hopes to continue working on lower prescription drug costs, continuing to guard against financial scams, and protecting programs that older adults and people with disabilities rely on, such as Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. 

The ranking member noted that this hearing would address how to promote wellness among older adults. “We’ll address issues like accessible housing, financial security, and engagement with the community,” she said, the importance of giving people the tools to live and age well. “Those tools are different for everyone, but include resources like nutrition assistance programs, Area Agencies on Aging, Centers for Independent Living, supportive housing programs, Medicare and Medicaid, and Social Security,” she added.  

 Ways to Improve the Health and Wellness of the Nation’s Seniors

During his testimony, Sheriff Bill Prummell rattled off a list of proactive and effective ways that the Sheriff’s Office serves and protects seniors and disabled adults residing in Charlottee County, Florida.  Prummell shared a number of innovative programs with the Senators that could easily be replicated throughout the nation.  

Here are just a few…

According to Prummell, who serves as President of the Florida Sheriff’s Association, his office utilizes trained volunteers to reach out weekly to isolated age 60 and over seniors and disabled adults. The volunteers get to know these individuals thru their weekly phone calls, by giving them Christmas gifts and mailing birthday cards to these individuals on that special date, too. 

Meanwhile, Prummell noted that efforts like Project Lifesaver (using GPS tracking bracelets to locate wanderers) and DNA Scent Kits (enabling participants to keep a DNA scent article at home to be used by K9 Deputies) to assist his deputies in finding missing wanderers.  

And, Operation Pill Drop, even allows individuals to dispose of expired or unwanted medication in drug receptacle boxes at participating district offices, he says, noting that this keeps family members and others from accessing the senior’s medication cabinet to take old and unused medications. 

While she has seen dramatic improvements in preventative and health promotion programs, “we still have a long way to go,” says Witness Maria Alvarez, Executive Director of New York Statewide Senior Action Council.  She used the Senate Aging Committee hearing as a bully pulpit to call for a 2025 White House Conference on Aging be held to “help the country chart a course for addressing the needs of the growing older population as 20 percent of this country is now over the age of 65.”

“But we cannot ignore the need to recognize that having health care and preventive services available is not sufficient if they are not affordable or if discrimination, actual or perceived persists,” Alvarez says.

According to Alvarez, along with Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, the Older Americans Act “has had seismic effect on the elderly population. “These programs provide a framework that seniors can rely on to continue to live and thrive and live with dignity, she says.

Witness Dawn Carr, Ph.D., director of the Claude Pepper Center at Florida State University, told the attending Senators that it’s time to reframe aging policy to promote healthy aging, noting that this “will require an expansion of our current aging-related policy goals.” These goals must emphasize supporting healthy aging throughout a person’s lifespan, she said.

“It means expanding healthy aging research, improving health care literacy and access, and incentivizing health behaviors and health interventions based on optimal health function goals,” says Dr. Carr, adding that this means “thinking about viewing older people as a critical resource that improves our society, rather than as a barrier to societal progress.”

Finally, during her testimony, Professor Emerita Dr. Susan Hughes, Ph.D., in the Division of Community Health Sciences and Founding Director of the Center for Research and Health and Aging at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) described the imitations of current funding for health promotion programs for older adults, calling for “transformational re-thinking” of a historical focus on post-acute care.  According to Dr. Hughes, this has resulted in  funding gaps in supporting long-term care and preventative programs for older adults, especially for those with chronic conditions like arthritis. 

Increased funding for wellness programs could reduce health care costs and improve out outcomes, she says, citing the success of UIC’s Fit & Strong! Program, a low cost, evidence-based intervention that helps senior’s manage osteoarthritis through physical activity.

But, despite the success of programs like Fit & Strong! lack of funding and reimbursement mechanisms, limit their impact, charges Dr. Hughes. calling for the Older American’s Act (OAA), particularly Title III D (or a new title), to support the funding of physical activity programming. 

“Ultimately, however, we will see much bigger returns if we develop demonstrations and/or regulations or reimbursement mechanisms that support the dissemination of and access to evidence-based health promotion programs as extensively as possible through Medicare, says Dr. Hughes. 

Walking the Talk

“Helping older people is a bipartisan issue — and the Aging Committee has a history of addressing the challenges that seniors face.  The work that the Senate Aging Committee does is especially critical today, with 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 every day, and given the uncertainty about the future of critical programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security,” says Max Richtman, President & CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

Taking the reins of the Senate Aging Committee, Chairman Scott pledges to work with Ranking Member Gillibrand in a “bipartisan manner” to improve the lives of America’s seniors.  Will he walk his talk or are these just empty words?   

Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Aging Committee MUST work together to push the Republican-controlled Senate to allocate increased funding for the AOA and Medicare, or create additional reimbursement mechanisms to promote health and wellness programs.  Research tells us that these programs increase physical activity, brings people together to socialize, and enhances brain health, and even cuts medical costs.  Even with a federal budget deficit, in this case Congress must not be penny wise and pound foolish. 

To watch this Senate Aging Committee hearing go to 

https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/improving-wellness-among-seniors-setting-a-standard-for-the-american-dream.

Bipartisan support needed to re-establish House Aging Committee

Published in RINewsToday on May 6, 2024

It was almost like attending a 34th high school reunion.  After over three decades, an on-line meeting on April 25th, would bring five former senior staffers of the House Select Committee on Aging (HSCoA) and House Rules Committee back together to provide firsthand accounts to Maia Leeds, legislative assistant for Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), as to why the New Jersey Congressman, co-chair of the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus, should call on the caucus to endorse H. Res. 1029, re-establishing the House Select Committee on Aging. 

Washington, DC-based groups, including the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), Social Security Works and the Alliance for Retired Americans, including this writer, along with key staff of Congressman Seth Magaziner (D-RI), the primary sponsor of the resolution, participated in the discussion of how the Rhode Island Congressman could attract more cosponsors, especially House Republican lawmakers.   

Throughout the half-hour meeting, Leeds and others stressed the importance of recruiting Republican lawmakers, calling for bipartisan support of H. Res. 1029. According to “Votes in Congress” published in the New York Times on Oct. 13, 1974, even with the Democrats controlling the House in 1974, the HSCoA was established by a huge bipartisan vote of 299 to 74.  In 1993, House Democratic belt-tightening efforts to save $ 1.5 million funding the operations of HSCoA would force it to close its door.

The House Aging Committee was not charged with drafting legislation. Its mission was to conduct investigations and hold hearings to put the spotlight on aging issues that would ultimately lead standing committees with aging jurisdiction to craft legislation to address these issues. 

From the 114th Congress, until he retired during the 117th Congress, in each Congressional session, former Congressman David Cicilline had introduced a resolution to bring back the HSCoA. The resolution failed to gain traction and get support from either House Republic Leader Paul Ryan or House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. Magaziner would ultimately pick up the baton and introduce H. Res. 1029, on Feb. 23, 2024. This resolution was referred to the House Committee on Rules for mark-up, and if passed will be considered by the full House. At press time, there are only 26 Democratic cosponsors, with no Republican cosponsors.

Simply Put…

Magaziner’s 213-word resolution simply amends the Rules of the House to establish a HSCoA, without legislative jurisdiction, to conduct a continuing comprehensive study and review an array of aging issues, including income maintenance, poverty, housing, health (including medical research), welfare, employment, education, and long-term care.

H. Res. 1029 also calls for the reestablished HSCoA to study ways that would encourage the development of public and private sector programs and policies that would keep older Americans active in their community.   

The resolution would also allow the HSCoA to develop policies that would encourage the coordination of both government and private programs designed to deal with problems of aging -and to review any recommendations made by the President or White House Conference on Aging in relations to programs and policies impacting seniors.

According to EveryCRS Report, the House can easily establish an ad hoc (temporary) select committee just by approving a simple resolution with no Senate or Presidential approval. It contains language establishing the committee, detailing a purpose, defining membership. Salaries and expenses of standing committees, special and select, are authorized through the Legislative Branch Appropriations bill.

Magaziner, currently out on parental leave, couldn’t make the online meeting, but Chief of Staff Clayton Schroers, and Kyra Whitelaw, Legislative Assistant, came to monitor the gathering to gain insight from former staffers of HSCoA’s impact on the development of aging policy.

According to Magaziner, his staff are working hard to speak to other congressional offices about the benefits of the proposed committee and who will continue to work to raise the profile of this resolution to encourage other members to become cosponsors. “I was grateful for the opportunity to present to the Leadership Council on Aging, a national coalition of national nonprofit organizations that works on policy issues related to the well-being of America’s seniors,” says Magaziner, noting that his resolution has the support of the NCPSSM and Meals on Wheels America.”

As Magaziner works to increase the number of cosponsors for H. Res. 1029, he says: “The support of advocates is important to encouraging Congressional representatives to cosponsor this resolution.”

“I’m ready to work with anyone, from either party, to deliver results for Rhode Island—and that includes finding common ground on important legislation like H. Res. 1029,” says Magaziner. “I believe there’s still room for bipartisanship, and ensuring we address issues for seniors across the country should be an area where we can all agree. I will continue to urge my Republican colleagues to work together with Democrats to move our country forward,” he says.

Former Congressional staffers call for passage of H. Res. 1029

“A House Aging Committee would centralize Congress’s consideration of older American issues and could be of assistance to authorizing committees with legislative jurisdiction over agencies and programs important to seniors,” says Max Richtman, NCPSSM’s President and CEO, explaining why NCPSSM will directly encourage House members to cosponsor H. Res. 1029.  

According to Richtman, a 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill, the pros outweigh the cons on supporting Magaziner’s resolution. A House Aging Committee would centralize Congress’s consideration of older American issues and could be of assistance to authorizing committees with legislative jurisdiction over agencies and programs important to seniors. However, it would take staff and clerk hire (money) away from the authorizing committees.

Like Magaziner, Richtman observes that bipartisan support for programs and agencies important to senior has a mixed record. “There is some bipartisan agreement on the Older Americans Act (OAA). But even on OAA, bipartisan action can vary widely, says Richtman, especially when Republicans want to make across the board cuts to non-defense discretionary spending, including OAA, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance  Program. “And there appears to be no bipartisan agreement on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” he says.

Richtman, a former Staff Director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, says that the upper chamber sees the value of the Senate Aging Committee, noting that he believes that it has operated in a bipartisan manner. 

Bob Blancato, former Executive Director of the 1995 White House Conference on Aging and former Staff Director, Subcommittee on Housing & Consumer Interests, from 1978-93, has joined the efforts to pass H. Res. 1029. “I just wanted to add another voice in favor of this resolution,” says Blancato, President of Matz, Blancato and Associates.

According to Blancato, who served as Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Human Services from 1977 to 1991, important policies were addressed over those years.  Several amendments to the Older Americans Act were adopting, including creating a separate program for home delivered meals. He remembers his subcommittee held the first hearing ever on the issue of grandparent visitation rights.  

Although some standing committee chairs felt THE aging committee made them work harder because of issues raised in their legislative jurisdictions, there were many examples of both “working together,” says Blancato. He recalls the House Education and Labor Committee working close with his subcommittee on legislation, including the Older Americans Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Blancato sees the need to bringing back the HSCoA. Since it was abolished over 30 years ago, there are many issues that need to be addressed with the graying of the nation’s population, he says.  

“A good gauge to see if House lawmakers consider aging policy to be a bipartisan issue is if the Older Americans Act gets renewed on a bipartisan vote this year,” notes Blancato, stressing that “this will be a good test.”

Elaina K. Goldstein, JD, MPA remembers the day when the HSCoA ceased to exist. “It was heartbreaking to have to pack up the incredible work done by the HSCoA and I am thrilled to be involved with its resurrection,” says the former Legal Counsel for the Subcommittee on Retirement and Employment. “It would be incredible if H. Res. 1029 passes, to once again see its staff work hand in hand with the Committees of jurisdiction to get important issues into the light so they could be remedied to make life better for seniors,” she says.   

As a former HSCoA staffer, Goldstein disagrees with those seeing conflict between the Select Committee and Standing Committees. “Quite the opposite,” she said, noting that Subcommittees did not have and will not have any legislative jurisdiction.,” she noted.  

According to Goldstein, many of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) health concerns and subsequent hearings held by HSCoA were uncovered by the Senate Finance Committee staff who felt they could not move forward politically in their Committee but felt the House Aging Committee could get the issue out in the open and then they could follow up. “As I said, these issues were ultimately addressed in the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and accountability Act of 1996,” she noted.

As to gaining Republican cosponsors, Goldstein sees aging policy losing some of its bi-partisan appeal with the debates over Social Security and Medicare. “It seems that Republican lawmakers feel the issues of Social Security and Medicare are Democratic issues,” she says, noting that there are so many others. “If the Committee would also take on the issues and concerns of people with disabilities —which they do in the Senate Aging committee —many issues that impact the aging are issues for the disabled as well,” she says, stressing this could well increase bi-partisan appeal.

Robert Weiner, President of Robert Weiner Associates News, saw the negative impact of the HSCoA being abolished. As Staff Director of the Health and Long-Term Care Subcommittee from 1975-76 and the former Claude Pepper’s  (D-FL) Chief of Staff (1976-80) when he chaired the full committee, Weiner knew how shortchanged seniors would be when the committee was abolished. “I always have wanted that decision reconsidered.,” he said.

“Reform”, instead of facts on Social Security have unfortunately now become the political value system norm, and age discrimination has crept back more and more, from hiring and firing in everything  whether private sector or politics. The Aging Committee and its members were and could again be a wedge of power representing older Americans of both parties,” says Weiner, who was a close confident of Pepper until he died in 1989.

Looking back, “We got legislation passed abolishing age-based mandatory retirement, as well as Medicare expansion of home health care, standards for cancer insurance, a major Social Security protection deal co-authored by Pepper, and many other laws by initial press during our investigations and then working closely with the standing committees on the bills,” says Weiner.

Some say that Cicilline’s efforts to pass the resolution to reestablish the HSCoA stalled because of the standing committee’s fear of loss of power in the legislative process. “This is anything but new. We did, and any new committee must, cooperate with, meet with, and support the standing committees’ efforts.  Pepper always made friends and cooperated. We worked closely with chairs and leaders from Gus Hawkins (D-CA) to Gladys Spellman (D-MD)  to Dan Rostenkoswski (D-Ill) to House Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-Mass) and Republican leader Bob Michel (R-Ill),” remembered Weiner.

The key to getting Magaziner’s resolution passed is for the Congressman to actively work to expand the co-sponsorships by taking co-sponsorship sign-up sheets and have conversations around the House floor and cloakrooms and thereby get to well over 100,” says Weiner. 

 A Final Note:

At the on-line meeting, former Senior Staff of HSCoA and Washington, DC-based aging groups, and Rhode Island senior advocates, praised Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s co-sponsorship of H. Res. 1029. Increasing the number of co-sponsors to over 100, especially recruiting GOP lawmakers, might just give the resolution traction this Congress.  Hopefully, Congressman Brian K. Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and the moderate Democratic and Republican members of his caucus will see the value of following Gottheimer’s lead. Yes, aging should be considered a bipartisan issue, just like it was in 1974 when both Democrats and Republicans rallied to establish HSCoA.  

Without support of the House Republican leadership, Richtman warns that it is unlikely that H. Res. 1029 will be considered during the 118th Congress.  However, efforts to drive up the number of cosponsors – especially if it can attract some Republican support – might enable the resolution to be considered if there is a more pro-senior majority in the House of Representatives,” he says.

It’s now time for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to step to the plate and support H. Res. 1029, and consider aging to be a bipartisan issue.  The switching of legislative control in the Senate over 47 years and the contentious debates over Social Security and Medicare, has had little impact on the operations of the Senate Special Committee on Aging. The bipartisan panel has continued to investigate and put the spotlight on critical aging issues, working with Senate standing committees to draft legislation to enhance the life and well-being of America’s seniors.  It’s now time for the House to bring back the HSCoA.  

Herb Weiss, LRI’12, is a Pawtucket-based writer who has covered aging, health care and medical issues for over 44 years. To purchase his books, Taking Charge: Collected Stories on Aging Boldly, and a sequel, compiling weekly articles published in this commentary, go to herbweiss.com.

 Participants of April 25 online meeting:

House Staffers: Chief of Staff Clayton Schroers and Kyra Whitelaw, Legislative Assistant, Office of Congressman Seth Magaziner; Maia Leeds, legislative Assistant, for Josh Gottheimer, Office of Congressman Josh Gottheimer.

Senior House Staffers: Bill Benson, former Assistant Secretary for Aging, US Dept. of Health and Human Services and former Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Housing & Consumer Interests, House Permanent Select Committee on Aging, from 1987-90;  Bob Blancato, former Executive Director of the 1995 White House Conference on Aging and former Staff Director, Subcommittee on Housing & Consumer Interests, from 1978-93; Elaina K. Goldstein, JD, MPA,  former Legal Counsel for the Subcommittee on Retirement Income and Employment; Robert S. Weiner, former Staff Director, Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care from 1975-77, Chief of Staff of the full Aging Committee from 1976-80); Thomas J. Spulak, former Staff Director, House Rules Committee (under Congressman Pepper), 1982-89 and Chair, the Claude Pepper Foundation.

National Aging Organizations: Nancy Altman, President, Social Security Works, Dan Adcock, Government Relations and Policy Director of the NCPSSM; and David Simon, Legislative Representative for the Alliance for Retired Americans.

Rhode Island: Vincent Marzullo, former Director of the Corporation for National Community Service, Board member of the Senior Agenda of RI, and member of Magaziner’s Senior Advisory Council; Robert Robillard, President of RI Senior Center Directors Association; and writer Herb Weiss.