AARP Alaska 2025 Legislative Priorities

AARP Alaska

by Marge Stoneking, AARP Alaska Advocacy Director

The most frequently expressed concerns from older Americans and Alaskans, as reflected in poll results, include worries about retirement income, support for family caregivers, and programs that enable aging independently at home. AARP Alaska’s top priorities focus on policies that address these concerns.

Retirement readiness is good for Alaska and good for Alaskans. Protecting Social Security is a top priority at the federal level, but Social Security is not enough to live on. Increased savings and access to benefits empower more older Alaskans to become retirement-ready, allowing them to choose how they live as they age, reducing reliance on public assistance, and improving recruitment and retention for Alaska employers.

For public employees, retirement readiness means a modest pension to recognize public service and compensate for lower pay. Without one, Alaska can’t compete with private sector employers or other states who all offer public pensions. That’s why AARP supports a bill to offer a modest pension benefit for all state and local public employees.

In the private sector, retirement readiness requires a savings option for all employees and business owners. Without access to a retirement savings plan at work, nearly all workers fail to save. That’s the reality for almost half of Alaska’s private sector employees.

The Alaska Work and Save bill would create a public-private retirement savings partnership for Alaska workers who lack a workplace retirement program. Across political parties, seven in ten Alaska small businesses support a public–private retirement savings option. Most small business owners agree that state legislators should support a bill to make it easier for small business owners to access a retirement savings option for their employees and themselves.

But not all work is paid, and family caregivers need support, too. Alaska’s 94,000 family caregivers struggle with access to financial support and respite services. Two-thirds (69%) of Alaska residents age 45+ are either currently providing care or have provided care in the past to an adult relative or friend. And seven in ten (72%) Alaska residents age 45+ who are NOT currently family caregivers think it is at least somewhat likely they will provide this type of care in the future.

At the federal level, AARP is asking Members of Congress to support a family caregiver tax credit to reduce the financial burden of caregiving for a loved one.

At the state level, AARP Alaska is advocating for a 15% increase in funding for senior community grants, which fund supportive services like meals on wheels, congregate meals, transportation, light housekeeping, chore services, health promotion, adult day programs, and education and respite for family caregivers. Senior Community Grant Services provide the lowest level of service and cost on the State of Alaska’s Senior Services Continuum of Care, keeping costs to the State low while giving the 80% of Alaskans who want to age at home the services needed to do so. Inadequate funding for senior services at the lowest level of care drive older Alaskans into higher levels of care with much higher costs. According to an informal Alaska Commission on Aging survey of Alaska’s senior centers, 90% are experiencing critical funding shortages due to rising food costs and an inability to offer competitive wages to keep staff.

Family caregivers do the lion’s share of work to allow friends and family members to age at home. When older Alaskans are unable to make life decisions and manage life independently, court-appointed guardians can step in to make judgments about property, medical care, living arrangements, and more. However, Alaska’s outdated guardianship laws jeopardize the health, safety, and finances of vulnerable adults and cost state courts valuable time and resources.

The Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (UGCOPAA) will modernize our state guardianship law and prevent abuse and exploitation. AARP strongly supports the passage of the UGCOPAA to provide an accountable and efficient guardianship system that helps protect vulnerable adults and provide family caregivers with the tools they need to make important decisions for their loved ones.

From retirement readiness in the public and private sectors to supporting caregivers and aging in place, AARP Alaska is working on behalf of all Alaskans 50 and older. To learn more and join us in making Alaska a place where we can all choose how we live as we age, visit aarp.org/akadvocacy