AARP Massachusetts Lobby Day: The Bills to Watch

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AARP Massachusetts held its annual Advocacy Action Day; sharing the state office's priorities and hearing from the legislators who are sponsoring bills AARP Massachusetts is backing.

If you missed it- you can watch it here.

This year, the AARP Massachusetts state office is focused on four areas; a family caregiving tax credit, comprehensive nursing home reform, property tax deferral reform, and strengthening the CORE plan- a work and save program.

The legislators took part in a virtual event on Tuesday, April 4th. State Director Mike Festa moderated the event. AARP Massachusetts State President Sandra Harris urged members to get involved, take action and call their legislators to help get bills passed.

Sen. Patricia Jehlan and Rep. Tom Stanley ran down what the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs looks to accomplish this year. The two chair the committee.

Jehlan says the shortage of healthcare workers is the biggest challenge right now.

"[The Shortage] is across the continuum. From ambulance drivers to hospital workers to rehab workers to home care workers and that results in worse and much more expensive care."

Sen Jehlen says there's work to be done and now is the time to get it finished.

"Those of us who advocate for older people's needs have never felt in the recent past, at least. that those issues have been enough of a priority in our State. Despite the fact that, the older population is growing really fast. and despite the escalating crisis in all levels of care from home care to nursing homes. There's so much urgent work we need to do to strengthen the whole continuum of care."

Rep Tom Stanley sees good chances for change.

"This year we're hoping to, and I feel confident that we'll be able to, make some positive changes and enact legislation in the area of home care licensing, assisted living residences, and also long term care; across the whole continuum of care for elders.  The pandemic has taught us how serious and essential our elders are, and also the people that care for them,"

Secretary of Elder Affairs Elizabeth Chen spoke about priorities for the new Healey Administration. She's also optimistic about moving forward and learning lessons from COVID-19.

"I see a collective resilience after we've been through the throes of Covid. There's a renewed energy and an undeterred commitment, and elder affairs and sister agencies and community organizations like AARP." says Sec Chen "I know we will use our precious financial resources with the greatest care. So that we can serve as many people as possible."

There was a lot of focus on the Family Caregiver Tax Credit. Both Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Dave Rogers are sponsoring bills that would allow for a $1500 refundable tax credit.

Sen Lewis also spoke about the shortage of workers across healthcare. He says that makes a caregiver tax credit even more important.

“While I've long supported this legislation. I think it's even more urgent now that we take action to do this, This would help people to remain safely at home living with dignity and keeps people out of more restrictive care, which is also more expensive to the taxpayer. So, in fact, it is financially sensible”

Rep. Dave Rogers knows what families caregivers go through.

"In my own family I saw the kind of challenges families are up against. It’s stressful. People don't talk about that the stress it puts on families. On the one hand, you're caring for someone you love deeply. On the other hand, these caregivers have other responsibilities in their life and their career and their work; their own children. This is a really important piece of legislation

Finally, Rep. Tommy Vitolo spoke about changes needed Senior Property Tax Deferral laws. His bill hopes to make it easier for seniors and their families to delay paying their property tax until the property is sold.

Rep. Vitolo is also speaking from personal experience. His parents have been in the same home since 1993. They're like many older citizens in the Bay State.

"In Massachusetts many seniors outright own homes that are worth 1020, 50 times more than they pay for them. But, they don't have the cash flow month to month to cover their ongoing costs. You can't sell 2% of your house. Not really." says Vitolo." It's really simple. It's: how about if I just pay my property taxes later? You're still going to pay your taxes. You still gonna contribute to your community. But you're gonna do it later. Not now."

Vitolo says the current law wasn't designed for large sized use. He says it's time to get the law up to 2023 standards.

Here are the bills AARP Massachusetts is backing: 

CAREGIVING TAX CREDIT

An Act to Establish the Family Caregiving Tax Credit
Sponsors: HB2932 – Representative David Rogers
SB764– Senator Jason Lewis

The Act will provide family caregivers with an income tax credit to cover expenses incurred by a taxpayer for the care and support of a qualifying family member. The amount of the credit is equal to 100% of eligible expenses, with a maximum allowable credit of $1,500. The tax credit would help address the financial challenges of caregiving and allow more unpaid family caregivers to keep their family members in the community.

More than 844,000 Bay State residents are caring for aging parents or loved ones, helping them live independently in their own homes. The total value of unpaid care provided to individuals in need of long-term services in Massachusetts amounts to more than $11 billion every year.

While most caregivers are asked to assist an individual with basic activities of daily living, such as mobility, eating, and dressing, many are also expected to perform more complex tasks on a daily basis such as administering multiple medications, providing wound care, and operating medical equipment.

Expenses that would be covered under this bill include:

• Improvements or alterations to the taxpayer's primary residence thereby enabling the care recipient to remain mobile, safe, and independent in his/her home and community.

• The purchase or lease of equipment necessary to assist an eligible care recipient in carrying out one or more activities of daily living.
  
• Hiring a home care aide or personal care attendant; paying for respite care; paying for adult day health
  
• The cost of transportation, legal and financial services, and/or assistive technology to care for their loved one.
  

On average, family caregivers are spending roughly $7,000 per year on out-of-pocket costs related to caregiving. That’s why AARP urges lawmakers to enact An Act to Establish the Family Caregiving Tax Credit to better support family caregivers.

NURSING HOME REFORM

An Act to Improve Quality and Oversight in Long Term Care
Sponsors: HB648- Representative Tom Stanley
SB379- Senator Patricia Jehlen

An Act to Improve Quality and Oversight of Long-Term Care is an omnibus bill which takes a comprehensive approach to regulating the long-term care industry and addressing needed reforms in transparency and oversight. The legislation also seeks to provide additional workforce supports and sets the stage for further innovation and development of alternative models of care.

An Act to Ensure the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes
Sponsor: HB615 Representative Ruth Balser

An Act to Ensure Quality of Care in Nursing Home will:

• Define Hours Per Patient Day (HPPD) and require staffing thresholds of 4.1 hours per patient day, with at least .75 hours provided by a registered nurse.
• Require facilities to develop and implement a written Department of Public Health-approved isolation prevention plan (IPP) and have appropriate technology, staff, and other capabilities in place to prevent residents from becoming isolated during public emergencies.
• Requires facilities to convert all residential bedrooms to single or double occupancy rooms.

AARP has called for the enactment of a a five-point plan to protect nursing home and long-term care facility residents—and save lives—at the federal and state levels:

• Prioritize regular and ongoing testing and adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for residents and staff—as well as inspectors and any visitors.

• Improve transparency focused on daily, public reporting of cases and deaths in facilities; communication with families about discharges and transfers; and accountability for state and federal funding that goes to facilities.

• Ensure access to in-person visitation following federal and state guidelines for safety and require continued access to virtual visitation for all residents
• Ensure quality care for residents through adequate staffing, oversight, and access to in-person formal advocates, called long-term care Ombudsmen.
• Hold long-term care facilities accountable when they fail to provide adequate care to residents.

The COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation and its impact has been especially deadly for residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Federal policymakers were slow to respond to this crisis, and no state has done a good enough job to stem the loss of life.

WORK & SAVE

An Act to Encourage Retirement Savings
Sponsors HB996- Representative Paul Donato
SB624- Senator Sal DiDomenico
An Act Relative to the 401(k) CORE Plan
Sponsors HB3031 Representative Ann Margaret Ferrante
SB2025- Senator Joan Lovely

Today, a secure retirement is out of reach for over one million Massachusetts residents, especially those who work for themselves or small businesses. While Social Security is a critical piece of the puzzle; it is not enough to depend on.  Many future retirees won’t be able to handle the rising cost of basic needs and health care. Nearly half of Massachusetts workers have no access to a retirement savings plan through their employers. The average Social Security benefits for a 65+ family is only about $16,791 per year, while older Massachusetts families on average spend $22,459 a year on food, utilities, and health care alone.

Work and save programs are a common-sense solution that  make it easier for businesses to offer employees a way to save for retirement out of their paycheck.  It’s an easy, stress-free way to grow retirement savings so you can take control of your future. The savings is your own money that you can take with you from job to job.  You can rely on in later years to take control of your future. Accounts are voluntary. As an employee, it’s up to you to decide if you want to participate and how much you want to put away automatically from your paycheck. It is never too early, or too late, to start investing in your future. Also, giving employees a simple way to save for retirement will mean fewer people will need to rely on public assistance later in life, which will save taxpayer dollars.

SENIOR PROPERTY TAX

An Act Relative to Senior Property Tax Deferral
Sponsors: HB2974- Rep. Tommy Vitolo and Rep. David M. Rogers   
SB1847-Senator Patricia Jehlen

Tax deferrals allow seniors to use the equity in their home to defer paying their property taxes until they sell their home or die.

Property taxes are based on the value of the home and are not directly related to a taxpayer’s current income and ability to pay

A third of all local revenue nationwide generated by property tax. Property tax is an important source of revenue for local government. Massachusetts residents pay high property taxes, and many have high property values.

There is no long-term cost to other taxpayers since the tax is repaid when the property is sold or transferred.

The bill would be enacted at the state level but is optional for local governments. We can’t wait any longer. Long-time homeowners are being forced out of their home due to rising taxes

WE NEED YOU!
There’s a lot to do. AARP Massachusetts can use your help; contacting lawmakers, sharing your stories, testifying at hearings; making your voice heard. If you’d like to learn more on how you can help, contact us at ma@aarp.org