Tag Archives for Gov Dan McKee

US Senate Special Committee on Aging holds its First Hearing on Menopause

Published in RINewsToday on September 21, 2026

For generations, menopause was a health issue that many women were expected to deal with on their own, quietly. Last week, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging took the issue into the public discussion, holding the first congressional hearing devoted exclusively to menopause.

The Sept. 16 hearing brought congressional attention to an issue affecting millions of American women navigating perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause. Approximately 2 million more women enter menopause each year.

Menopause affects women differently, but the symptoms can upend daily life. Women may experience hot flashes, vaginal dryness, insomnia, migraine headaches, brain fog, heart palpitations, mood changes, and changes in metabolism. For some, these symptoms become debilitating, disrupting daily and work routines and quality of life.

Senate Aging Committee Chairman Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) convened the hearing, titled “Half the Country, Zero Hearings: Meeting the Moment to End the Menopause Care Gap in America,” to examine what lawmakers call the nation’s “menopause care gap.”

Medical experts, researchers, and women’s health advocates testified about the lack of research, physician training, and access to treatment.

The Senate Aging Committee hearing was a critical step in elevating this issue to determine what’s needed to improve medical research, training, and care for women experiencing menopause,” said Gillibrand in her opening statement.

“Menopause affects half of the population. For generations, women have been told to suffer in silence. I’m done with this silence,” she said.

Even though women in midlife make up a significant portion of the U.S. population, Gillibrand called menopause “one of the most under-researched, undertreated, and under-discussed” health issues in the nation. She pointed to estimates that less than 1% of federal women’s health research funding goes to menopause.

Gillibrand also noted that about 80% of OB-GYN residents report feeling ill-prepared to discuss menopause or its symptoms. The result, she said, is that many women seeking medical care are left without adequate treatment.

Menopause care also carries an economic cost. Gillibrand cited a Mayo Clinic study estimating that menopause costs the U.S. economy $26.6 billion annually, including $1.8 billion in lost work time.

“There’s simply no excuse for the lack of resources and information to help every woman navigate menopause and the challenges that come with it,” said Scott in his opening statement.

Scott cautioned that there is no “one-size-fits-all solution.” Instead, he called for women to have access to reliable information, qualified health care providers, and treatment options that allow them to make informed decisions about their health.

Scott also pointed to hormone replacement therapy as a safe treatment option for many women, while noting that lack of education and access can make it difficult for women to obtain appropriate treatment.

“We also need providers who have the most up-to-date training and who can clearly discuss treatment options with their patients,” said Scott, pointing to the shortage of health care providers as another barrier to care.

Scott and Gillibrand also announced that they sent a bipartisan letter requesting the Government Accountability Office to examine how the federal government both coordinates and funds menopause research and care. The senators say the report could help identify remaining gaps in research, education and treatment.

More Research Needed

Federal funding for research advancing menopause care is inadequate, Dr. Jean Wactawski-Wende, a SUNY Distinguished Professor who has conducted women’s health research for more than four decades, charged.

“In 1985, the National Institutes of Health put forward a study…the report said we’re not doing enough research on women…I’d argue we are now 35 years later, and we have not come all that far,” she told the committee.

“Clinical trials are the gold standard of evidence, and we do not have enough of those trials in women, especially in postmenopausal women,” added Wactawski-Wende.

She identified four areas needing greater attention: increased federal research on women’s health throughout the lifespan; chronic disease in aging women; better education and clinical care after menopause; and greater attention to healthy behaviors throughout life.

Dr. Lynne M. Coslett-Charlton, a board-certified gynecologist who has practiced in Northeastern Pennsylvania for 27 years, pointed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent changes to warning labels for menopausal hormone therapy as a major shift in women’s treatment.

Coslett-Charlton also voiced concern that women might get menopause advice from social media influencers instead of from qualified clinicians. This could, in turn, lead them to buy unregulated supplements and products.

She noted that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has increased its educational efforts to steer patients toward safe, evidence-based, and medically appropriate care. Coslett-Charlton and ACOG also support passage of the Advancing Menopause Care and Midlife Women’s Health Act.

Training Doctors to Treat Menopause

Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, executive director of NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Center, urged Congress to make telehealth part of the solution. She told lawmakers that virtual care could help connect women, particularly those in areas without specialists, to providers knowledgeable about menopause.

But telehealth has its own barriers, she cautioned, including poor internet connectivity and inadequate insurance coverage. Weiss-Wolf also warned that physician education about menopause must improve.

“For those who started residency after 2002 — statistically that amounts to more than half of all practicing OB-GYNs in the U.S. today — the majority have not had meaningful or even any menopause training,” she said.

Weiss-Wolf called for modern clinical trials that include millennial and Gen X women, with racial, ethnic and geographic diversity. She also urged researchers to use technology better to collect data and track symptoms.

She called on lawmakers to pass three federal bills to increase research and attention to women’s health: the Advancing Menopause Care and Midlife Women’s Health Act; the Service Women and Veterans Menopause Research Act; and the Hormone Health Data and Research Act.

“I Want to Feel Like Myself Again”

“When I ask patients what they hope to get from their care, I often hear, ‘I want to feel like myself again,’” said Dr. Suzanne Silverman Fenske, an obstetrician-gynecologist and integrative medicine practitioner who has practiced in New York City for nearly two decades.

“They want their energy back, relief from anxiety, and a sense of control over a body that suddenly feels unfamiliar,” she said, adding that she

Fenske told the Senate panel that before menopause, a woman’s risk of chronic disease is generally lower than a man’s. After menopause, that risk increases. She pointed to heart disease, hip fractures and urinary sepsis among the serious health problems facing older women.

Fenske also raised an issue that receives far less attention — how physicians are reimbursed for treating menopausal women.

“There is not much incentive for physicians to take care of menopausal women,” she told lawmakers.

Fenske said low insurance reimbursement makes it difficult for independent physicians to spend the necessary time with menopause patients. Large hospital networks may be better able to absorb those costs, she said, while smaller independent practices cannot.

Like the other witnesses, Fenske highlighted the lack of minimum standards for menopause education in medical residency programs.

Fenske offered lawmakers a striking comparison: OB-GYN residents are required to complete at least 200 vaginal deliveries, but there is no comparable minimum requirement for menopause education.  She called on Congress to push Medicare and the Departments of War and Veterans Affairs to make menopause education part of accreditation standards.

Black Box Warning Changes and Challenges

Menopause treatment has received renewed federal attention under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who announced in November 2025 that the FDA would begin removing its strongest “black box” warnings about cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and probable dementia from hormone replacement therapies, including estrogen. The first six revised labels were approved in February 2026, reflecting the administration’s position that overly broad warnings had discouraged women from seeking effective symptom relief. The change does not mean hormone therapy is risk-free: treatment remains an individual decision, with the FDA emphasizing initiation of systemic therapy before age 60 or within 10 years of menopause. The boxed warning about endometrial cancer remains for systemic estrogen-only products. On September 3, the FDA said it was working with manufacturers to increase estrogen patch supplies after rising demand made them harder to find.

Rhode Island No. 1 in U.S. Menopause Workplace Protections

On June 24, 2025, Gov. Dan McKee signed into law legislation (S 0361), introduced by Sen. Lori Urso (D-Dist. 8, Pawtucket), to support women experiencing menopause under the state’s fair employment statute—making Rhode Island the first state to enact such workplace protections explicitly. Rep. Karen Alzate (D-Dist. 60, Pawtucket, Central Falls) introduced a companion bill (H 6161), which passed by concurrence.

Rhode Island law already prohibits workplace discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. This includes requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations and protecting individuals from being denied employment opportunities or promotions—or terminated—because of these conditions. The new law adds menopause to this list of protected health conditions.

“Menopause is a difficult and personal subject that has been stigmatized in this country,” said Sen. Urso in a statement announcing the bill’s passage. “But as something that affects half our population, it’s time we recognize it as a workforce issue—especially as our workforce ages along with our population. The current lack of protections contributes to inadequate retirement savings and lost leadership opportunities for women and poses an economic challenge for employers facing workforce shortages and the loss of experienced employees,” she says.

“Menopause is not something women choose to experience, and its effects on the mind and body can significantly impact daily life and job performance,” said Rep. Alzate. “Women should not have to risk being penalized or discriminated against at work due to a naturally occurring biological transition,” she says.

Rhode Island’s new law is paving the way for workplaces that actually support women experiencing menopause—and it sets a great example for the rest of the country to follow.

A Final Note…

For the millions of women now going through menopause — and the millions more who will follow them — the Sept. 16 hearing put an issue long discussed quietly in doctors’ offices and among women themselves squarely before Congress.

Whether the hearing ultimately results in more federal research, better physician training, and improved access to care will depend on what lawmakers do next. But after generations of silence, menopause finally received its first congressional hearing.

To read Scott and Gillibrand’s correspondence to GAO on the federal government’s role in Menopause research and education, go to Gillibrand Scott GAO Letter on Menopause

To watch the Sept. 16 Senate Aging Committee hearing, go to Half the Country, Zero Hearings: Meeting… | Senate Committee On Aging.

To read about RI’s new Menopause law, go to Rhode Island First in Nation to Add Workplace Protections for Women Experiencing Menopause – Herb Weiss

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RI Seniors, aging advocates call for an “age friendly” budget

Published in RINewsToday on March 27, 2023

Over two months ago, Gov. Dan McKee unveiled a sweeping $13.7 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year.  After its release, the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI (SACRI), representing 21 organizations, called this budget “unfriendly to seniors,” charging that it “short-changed” seniors.  In an e-blast that was sent to 1,800 seniors and aging advocates SACRI urged them to contact their lawmakers asking that they put more funding into the delivery of aging programs and services.  

As the House Finance Committee continues to hold hearings on bills that might ultimately be rolled into the upcoming FY 2024 Budget, last week the SACRI brought 220 seniors, aging advocates and professionals in the aging network to the Warwick Crown Plaza to personally urge House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D-Warwick) and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D-Providence, North Providence to hammer out an “age-friendly” budget.

SACRI Board Chair George Neubauer began this year’s Legislative Leaders Forum by quoting President Joe Biden’s call to Congressional lawmakers at the annual State of the Union Address to maintain Medicare and Medicaid. The President urged lawmakers to “stand up for seniors”.  Setting the stage for why this event was organized, Neubauer told the packed room: “Today, we are here to speak up for ourselves.”

Painting a Portrait of Rhode Island Seniors

“Effective advocacy includes good data and good stories,” said Maureen Maigret, a SACRI Board member and policy advisor for the group setting the stage for the speakers. She presented demographic data on the state’s graying population, discussed the increased needs of state’s aging programs and services to keep people at home, and detailed SACRI’s budget policy fixes.

“We speak up for 200,000 seniors and our numbers are growing,” says Maigret, also a former State  Representative and Director of the RI Department of Elderly Affairs. By 2030, 1 in 5 Rhode Islanders will be aged 65 and over,” she says.

While many think that seniors are a drain on the economy, they are not. According to Maigret, $3 billion dollars in Social Security benefits are pumped into the state’s economy. Twenty percent of seniors are still working and paying taxes and employers are very aware that seniors have extensive job experience skills and are usually very reliable employees.

“Additionally, seniors are part of an invisible workforce of unpaid caregivers who take care of family members and friends, also,” says Maigret, noting that AARP Rhode Island recently released a study reporting that there are 121,000 unpaid caregivers, with the value of their unpaid care estimated to be $2.1 billion dollars (just under $19 per hour).

“Seniors also contribute thousands of hours of volunteer work to their local communities, lending a helpful hand to senior centers, friendly visitor programs, Meals on Wheels, and to the Village Common of RI at four Village communities and multiple other agencies,” adds Maigret.  

“An overwhelming 70% of Rhode Island seniors want to age in place and remain in their communities,” says Maigret, noting that “after age 65, 3 out of 5 of these individuals will need some support to stay in their homes.”

SACRI survey on areas of concern for seniors

With Rhode Island’s top House and Senate leadership listening, Maigret touched on the findings of a SACRI survey that identified an array of concerns expressed by their older constituents.  Health and care issues came up on the top of this list, followed by isolation and loneliness, lack of knowledge of community support services, the need for transportation, loss of mobility, high housing costs, and lack of income.

The survey findings indicate that needed information is not reaching older adults to navigate the long term care system, says Maigret. Forty percent do not know about programs and services offered by Rhode Island’s Office of Healthy Aging (OHA) and The Point, the state’s aging and disability resource center.  She noted that the Governor’s FY 2024 budget didn’t allocate any state dollars to operate The Point, whose mission is to direct seniors to needed programs and services.

“Even with Social Security, a large number of seniors have low incomes,” says Maigret, with 50% of older households living on less than $50,000 a year, another 27% living on less than $25,000. “The cost of long-term care is staggering and unaffordable with semi-private rooms in nursing facilities going for $94,900 a year,” she pointed out. “Assisted living facilities is out of reach for many, too, costing about $54,000 a year. Bringing a home care aide 40 hours per week into a person’s home costs a whopping $56,160,” she adds.

Maigret urged Shekarchi and Ruggerio to reallocate more state dollars to home care services.  While other states, on average, spend 45% of Medicaid long-term care dollars on home care, Rhode Island only spends 22% with hundreds of seniors having to wait over 3 months to get home care services.

Maigret says that SACRI supports a legislative agenda that calls on the Rhode Island General Assembly to craft a “Better Budget for Better Care,” which will result in a permanent investment to improve the care provided to seniors.  SACRI also urges that lawmakers raise direct workers pay to $20 per hour to attract workers into home care agencies and nursing facilities. To assist seniors to access needed programs and services, $500,000 must be allocated into the House budget to better market available information and referral services offered by The Point.  

“Meanwhile, SACRI also is pushing to add five new positions at the OHA, with two being assigned to its Adult Protective Services Unit to increase increased caseloads,” says Maigret.  By allocating funding to help more lower income Medicare beneficiaries pay their Medicare Part B premiums, seniors will have more money to pay their bills.     

Telling Powerful Stories

SACRI pulled together a few “real life” stories to illustrate why Rhode Island lawmakers must craft an “Age Friendly” FY 2024 Budget.

Jeanne Gattegno, working in the elder abuse sector, shared her thoughts as to why OHA’s Adult Protective Service Unit (APSU) is underfunded.  “Elder abuse is a crime and anyone suspecting abuse must report it.  When its reported it must be investigated by the APSU,” she says.

According to Gattegno, in 2021, there were over 6,200 calls to OHA, over 1,400 calls were elder abuse complaints, and 2,800 were investigated as self-neglect. “There are five workers in the APSU. Just do the math. It’s an incredibly difficult job and it’s life and death and there are not enough people to help,” warns Gattegno.

Allyson Manning, an overworked Registered Nurse at a local nursing facility, highlighted her typical day working with two Certified Nursing Assistants to take care of 26 residents.  Due to low wages, the facility can’t fill the third CNA position to assist the other two CNAs on the shift. 

Serving as Team Leader, Manning says that there is not enough time to take care of her 26 residents.  During this shift her chief responsibility is to pass medications, perform treatments and assessments.  She often finds that her primary functions as an RN are late or difficult to carry out, due to the need to assist the CNAs with their tasks of toileting, washing, dressing and feeding residents.

“We are not attracting the people we need to these [CNA] positions.  They are low paid jobs, but it is really rewarding work but it is hard work., she says.  When hired, CNA’s are not staying long, turnover is high says Manning. While initially working full-time, she now only works two days a week.  

Giving Their Thoughts…

RI Speaker of the House, Joe Shekarchi remarked that he clearly understood the very powerful stories shared by Gattegno, Manning and others. “I didn’t need to hear those stories because I live those stories every day.  When his 97-year-old father recently fell at home and broke his pelvis, he was admitted to the Bethany House.

“I see how hard they work and the limited staff they have,” says the House Speaker, understanding the labor shortage’s impact on nursing facilities. “I see when my father hits the call button and it takes a long time [to answer] not because they are slow, but because they are doing three or four things at the same time,” he says.

“It’s important that seniors have options so they can choose what’s best for them,” says Shekarchi. “We need to provide supports for seniors to age in place and remain in their homes living independently,” he added, acknowledging that it is not always easy to do.

Shekarchi also recognized his effort with the Senate President made historic investments to require minimum staffing last year. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened because the nursing facilities are now facing labor shortages, he says. 

According to Shekarchi, last year the General Assembly also provided more funding to make home care more accessible for seniors.  Lawmakers also provided tax relief on pensions for older taxpayers and military veterans, strengthened laws to protect seniors from financial exploitation, and made it easier to apply for SNAP benefits and expanded property tax relief for seniors. He expects to continue his efforts this legislative session.

Shekarchi also reported that he has introduced a bill, supported by AARP RI, to allow zoning for constructing Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in garages or basements. He called on seniors and aging organizations to support his housing bill.

The House Speaker also discussed proposed legislation by Rep. Lauren Carson (D-District 75, Newport) proposed legislation that would create a House Study Commission to coordinate Rhode Island’s programs and services for seniors, expressing the need for such a study commission.  

Like Shekarchi, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio outlined a number of legislative successes last year.  He recognized passage of Sen. Josh Miller’s legislation authoring the creation and implementation of a pharmaceutical redistribution program. Former Sen. Cindy Coyne’s legislation became law, too, lowering the age at which a victim can be considered an elder under the state’s financial exploitation law from 65 to 60.

With the state’s growing number of seniors, Senate President Ruggerio stated that senior issues are more important than ever.

“We need to do everything we can to ensure seniors and retirees can enjoy their older years with dignity and security,” he said. “Because after a lifetime of hard work and contributing to our communities… older Rhode Islanders deserve nothing less.”

“The Senior Agenda Coalition is a powerful tool in its work.  At the Statehouse we rely on your voices to help guide us as leaders,” says Ruggerio, noting “we don’t have all the answers and appreciate your input.”

To watch SACRI’s 2023 Legislative Leaders Forum, go to  https://ritv.devosvideo.com/show?video=7cd34a907d29&apg=c7e3a6c7.

Use ARPA Funds to Make Rhode Island “Age Friendly”

Published on the November 1, 2021 in RINewsToday

With the first public hearing cancelled because of Wednesday’s nor’easter on Oct. 26, Gov. Dan McKee and Lt. Gov Sabina Matos, along with Commerce Director Stefan Pryor and their staff, came to Warren’s Hope & Main to kick off the second public hearing to gather comments about the recently released “Rhode Island 2030: Charting a Course for the Future of the Ocean State.”  The 55-page “working” paper studied and analyzed options for spending the funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Over 50 people came to Warren to give their suggestions as to how the COVID-19 federal dollars should be spent. Problems to address included: lack of affordable housing, the growing homeless program, recovering from the pandemic and rebuilding the state’s economy, and creating an age-friendly state.  

During his testimony, West Warwick resident Vincent Marzullo advised McKee and Matos not to forget Rhode Island’s increasing aging population. According to Marzullo, for the first time in recorded history, there are more people over the age of 64 in the world than children under five. In Rhode Island, over 31 percent of residents are age 55 or older, and by 2030 one-quarter of our population will be over 65. 

While many of the Rhode Island’s 2030 report’s draft recommendations, as well as suggestions from the RI Foundation and AFL-CIO, are worthy, “what is obvious in the current draft is the lack of specific attention, focus and strategy needed to get to an age-friendly designation, said Marzullo, a well-known aging advocate who served as a federal civil rights and social justice Director in Rhode Island for the Corporation for National & Community Service.

“Don’t we now have an obligation to insure better healthcare, safety, housing, livability, caregiving, etc. for this aging population?” Marzullo asked.  

One way for Rhode Island to accomplish this is to join the AARP Age-Friendly Network of States and Communities, which defines eight interconnected domains that can help to identify and address barriers to the well-being and participation of older people. 

State Director Catherine Taylor says that AARP Rhode Island has been working toward making Rhode Island age-friendly for most of the past three years and in a letter back in mid-July urged the governor and state leaders to use ARPA to accelerate AARP’s effort.  

“We are on the cusp of an opportunity to improve livability dramatically,” adds Taylor. “AARP Rhode Island has urged Governor McKee and state leaders to designate a substantial portion of the $1.8 billion in federal ARPA funds to areas that contribute to further development of age-friendly cities and towns — prioritizing healthcare, housing, public transportation, and the long-term services and supports that are essential to older Rhode Islanders,” she says.

The defined domains of AARP Age-Friendly cities are: Outdoor Spaces and Buildings (people need public places to gather — indoors and out); Transportation (driving shouldn’t be the only way to get around); Housing; Social Participation; Respect and Social Inclusion; Work and Civic Engagement; Communication; and Information and Community and Health Services.

Eight other states have obtained “Age-Friendly” status in collaboration with AARP and The World Health Organization (WHO).  

“Well-designed, livable communities promote well-being, sustain economic growth, and make for happier, healthier residents — of all ages,” said Taylor. “That is why AARP has guided Newport, Cranston, Providence and, most recently, Westerly into membership in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. While we are in discussion with other towns and cities who have shown interest, it has been our goal for some time to see that the State of Rhode Island also joins,” she says.

“A key benefit of the Network is the abundance information and support that membership provides. State leaders would have access to global resources on age-friendly best practices, models of assessment and implementation, and the experiences of other states, cities and towns around the world,” notes Taylor.

“The Network helps participating communities become great places for people of all ages by adopting features such as safe, walkable streets; better housing and transportation options; access to key services; and opportunities for residents to participate in civic and community activities. We believe that Rhode Islanders of all ages prefer living in an age-friendly environment. Many, especially older people, are eager to be involved in the process,” adds Taylor.

Marzullo urged McKee to issue an Executive Order, charging the Lt. Governor to convene representatives from the aging community to design and develop an operational plan for Rhode Island to be designed as an “Age Friendly State.”  The groups should include AARP, Age Friendly RI (RIC), the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council (LTCCC), RI Office of Healthy Aging, United Way RI, RI Senior Center Directors Association, RI Elder Info, Senior Agenda Coalition/RI & the RI Commission on National & Community Service (RIDE). 

Creating a Well-Designed Livable Community for Seniors

Maureen Maigret, policy consultant and chair of the Aging in Community Subcommittee of Rhode Island’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, notes that the Subcommittee has worked successfully to address “age friendly” domains for several years and that Rhode Island’s 2023 State Plan on Aging also calls for the state to be designated as ‘Age Friendly’ and to work with its partners to promote livable communities for all ages.

“While a formal state commitment through an Executive Order has not happened a number of state agencies such as Environmental Management have been working to embrace age-friendly principles in their work, says Maigret, noting our Rhode Island municipalities have made a commitment to make their communities age-friendly.

In a Sept. 23 Providence Journal op-ed, Maigret called for making Rhode Island age-friendly, recommending that the General Assembly invest in the state’s growing older population. “Knowing that 50-70% of older persons will need some type of long-term services as they age, our most important immediate challenge is to stabilize the paid workforce that helps with the supports needed to remain living at home and to ensure we provide quality congregate care,” says Maigret. 

“We must take immediate steps to secure competitive, living wages for our direct care workers who assist with these tasks and to provide more supportive services for our hundreds of unpaid caregivers who care for loved ones, adds Maigret.  “By looking ahead to 2030, it makes sense to direct a small portion of the federal ARPA funds to communities to both enhance the work of our local senior centers and local Villages and volunteer programs as well as to initiate other age-friendly effort,” she says. 

Maigret calls on Rhode Island’s 39 Cities and Towns to use some of the significant ARPA funds to complement any state funds coming their way for such activities. But for now, stabilizing the long-term care workforce is critical.

A Final Thought…

“The COVID pandemic demonstrated the vulnerability and inequities within both our communities of color and older adults.  In formulating policy and budget investments for the future, Rhode Island has a unique opportunity to promote a statewide “Age Friendly” environment and incorporate the principles of a “beloved community” – a prescription for a healthy society,” says Jim Vincent, President of NAACP’s Providence Branch.

Vincent calls on the Governor and Lt. Governor to give serious attention to not only rebooting our economy, but to strengthening our social fabric and public education to foster a more equitable and civil society. 

Make your voices heard. Now is the time for creative ideas and reactions to the McKee-Matos’ Rhode Island 2030 draft report, which is why they are holding public input sessions. Please take the time to be an advocate for seniors in Rhode Island – and for other causes and issues that are important to you.

Public input sessions will be held at 5 p.m. on the following dates:

Tuesday, Nov. 2 at the Community College of Rhode Island, Warwick

Thursday, Nov. 4 at Innovate Newport (513 Broadway, Newport)

Tuesday, Nov. 9 at United Theatre (5 Canal Street, Westerly)

You can also submit your feedback, online, at www.RI2030.com

For a copy of the McKee-Matos working paper, go to https://ri2030.com/_files/public/RI%202030_final.pdf.

For details about AARP Livable Communities Network (age-friendly communities, to to https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/network-age-friendly-communities/.