Advocacy

AARP Connecticut hosted a live Telephone Town Hall with guests Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and AARP Legislative Counsel David Certner on Monday, June 26, 2017. The informative and interactive discussion, moderated by AARP Connecticut State Director Nora Duncan, focused on the impact that policy changes will have on the new healthcare bill in the Senate and included topics such as the potential cuts to Medicaid, effects on Connecticut seniors, and the senator's plan to help caregivers.

The following story was submitted by Donna Sciacca, community outreach and education manager for the American Liver Foundation’s Connecticut Division. She educates over 4,000 Connecticut residents each year about risk factors, prevention strategies and treatment options for liver disease. Sciacca has worked in the nonprofit health sector for over 20 years.

Years of bipartisan cooperation between legislators, businesses and advocacy organizations on ensuring the key support systems are in place for Connecticut’s older residents and people with disabilities has produced some progress in meeting important long-term care needs. This, according to a new, comprehensive state-by-state Scorecard report from AARP with support of the nation’s leading organizations behind quality long-term care, The Commonwealth Fund and SCAN Foundation.

Dominion Resources, owners of the Millstone nuclear power plant in Connecticut, has decided to resort to scare tactics in response to a story by the Connecticut Mirror that there is a lack of state legislative support for a bill that would provide the Virginia-based company with a special, ratepayer-subsidized, deal (Senate Bill 106). The legislation, as presented in public statements, would reclassify the power generated by the plant as renewable fuel, allowing Dominion to undercut the cost of other renewable fuels and receive a significantly higher price for their power, therefore raising overall rates.

AARP Connecticut State Director Nora Duncan provided the following statement in regards to the budget proposal released by the Malloy Administration today and the potential negative impact it may have on our senior residents:

AARP Connecticut praises state legislators on the passage of Senate Bill 976, An Act Concerning Conservatorship Accountability, on May 11, 2017. AARP Connecticut also congratulates the Probate Court Administrator for putting forward the proposal and engaging stakeholder support. The bill will improve Connecticut’s adult guardianship system and help protect vulnerable individuals from financial exploitation.

Thursday, April 6, at 8 p.m.; Public Invited to Join Live Studio Audience

AARP Connecticut, the state’s largest consumer advocacy organization representing nearly 600,000 members in Connecticut, released the following statement from John Erlingheuser, state advocacy director, regarding Senate Bill 106, legislation that would create a process by which Dominion Resources would get a higher price for the same energy it currently sells on the New England wholesale competitive market through its Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford.

Videos from Press Conference:

AARP Connecticut provided members of the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee with testimony in regards to Proposed SB 6 (an Act Exempting Social Security Income from the Personal Income Tax), Proposed HB 6558 (an Act Exempting Social Security Benefits from the Personal Income Tax) and Proposed HB 5587 (an Act Concerning a Tax Exemption for Seniors’ Social Security Benefits).