Alissa Brammer

Last week on April 7, 2016, Senator Joni Ernst, along with others, introduced the Credit for Caring Act, which provides working family caregivers with up to a $3,000 nonrefundable tax credit for qualified expenses.

For the past six months, AARP Iowa volunteers and staff worked tirelessly on the Take a Stand campaign, calling for presidential candidates to address their plan to update Social Security for future sustainability. Activities launched in August 2015 at the Iowa State Fair and built steadily to the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses on February 1, 2016.

Refresh your driving skills and possibly earn a discount on your annual insurance premium by taking an AARP Driver Safety class in your community or online. Classes are offered in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and cities across Iowa and the U.S. Course fees are $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Depending your your type of insurance, you may also receive a discount in addition to learning proven techniques to aid in your driving safety.

This year, the Iowa Senior games has branched out with regional events planned for April in Council Bluffs and May in Cedar Rapids before the 30th annual Iowa Senior games in June in West Des Moines.

May is National Bike Month and this year more cities and communities across Iowa are hosting events and programs to encourage more Iowans to use bikes for recreation and transportation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As federal regulators report a surge in tax-related fraud schemes, the AARP Fraud Watch Network has launched a campaign to help protect consumers from the “IRS imposter scam.”

DES MOINES, March 14, 2016 – AARP Iowa and other aging advocates including the Alzheimer’s Association, Older Iowans Legislature, and The Hale Group met at the Iowa State Capitol on Monday to urge the Iowa Legislature to take action to support the growing ranks of Iowa’s unpaid family caregivers during the 2016 session by passing the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act ( HSB 564 and SF 465) as part of one of the budget bills.

The Iowa Department of Human Services is holding monthly public meetings to determine opinions on the IA Health Link managed care program.

Recognizing the ongoing strain Iowa's more than 317,000 family caregivers face, AARP Iowa is urging lawmakers to make support for family caregivers a reality during the 2017 Iowa legislative session.

Day five on the Caucus trail, and AARP Iowa Volunteers continue to travel across the state attending events for all candidates. Recently, the candidates have begun to recognize AARP's #TakeAStand, red T-Shirts. According to Carly Fiorina, "It's working."