legislature

All Things Advocacy

AARP North Dakota’s advocacy agenda is taking shape as we prepare for the 2019 session of the North Dakota Legislature, which beings on January 3.

To recognize their integral work to support family caregivers in North Dakota, AARP named Senator Judy Lee, West Fargo, Representative Kathy Hogan, Fargo, and Representative Jay Seibel, Beulah, as 2017 “Capitol Caregivers,” a bipartisan group of nearly 100 elected officials from more than 30 states. These leaders have advanced policies to support family caregivers, who help their parents, spouses and other loved ones live independently at home and in the community.

Legislation to support North Dakota’s 62,100 family caregivers met with mixed results during the 2017 North Dakota Legislature.

Larry is a North Dakota caregiver who takes care of his wife with multiple sclerosis, every day, 24 hours a day. He does the cooking, bathing, and other necessary tasks that allow Larry and his wife to stay at home rather than move away from their homestead.  It’s a tough job, but for Larry and the other 62,100 North Dakota caregivers, it’s a labor of love. That is why AARP is fighting for caregivers like Larry.

More than 15 AARP volunteers attended the May meeting of the legislature’s Interim Human Services Committee to show their support for North Dakota family caregivers.

Volunteers are a critical resource for AARP and the work we do to make a positive impact on the lives of others, including here in North Dakota.

AARP North Dakota presented a wrap-up report on the 2015 North Dakota Legislature in Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, Bismarck, Dickinson and Williston in mid-May.

A bill introduced this week in the North Dakota Legislature would better support thousands of family caregivers in the state.