Advocacy

AARP Backs Bipartisan Credit for Caring Act

We need your help to keep SB133, Small Employer Retirement Program, moving toward becoming law. This bill will help Utah workers have access to retirement savings vehicles at work. The Senate voted to approve the program but it is now headed to the House. The bill is facing new opposition from groups who benefit by keeping this current market confusing and high-cost for small businesses owners.

MORE WORKERS WILL GET ACCESS TO RETIREMENT SAVINGS VEHICLES UNDER SB133

CAREGIVERS GAIN NEW RIGHTS FROM DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RULE

AARP Utah's Advocacy Director Danny Harris is hard at work at the Utah State Capitol, fighting for legislation that will help caregivers with their legal rights, nurse practitioners with their ability to prescribe medications, and small business employees with their ability to save for retirement at work. Here's his update after week two of the Utah legislative session:

AARP Utah co-sponsored a town hall meeting with the Vest Pocket Business Coalition and the Church and State Business Incubator on November 18 to discuss solutions to the private-sector employee retirement savings problem in Utah, including possibly implementing state-sponsored retirement savings plans through automatic payroll deductions established through legislation.

Most people have to rely on money saved over years of work to fund their retirement, and often this money is accumulated through a 401(k) plan at work or some other type of investment. Long gone are the days when a guaranteed pension gave workers financial security in retirement; today, only one in five workers has access to such a plan. This means workers have to take on the risk of investing, which is a scary proposition. Investment losses can be devastating late in life, as there aren’t decades of work ahead to replace it.

Retirement planning during a person’s working life is crucial to having financial security after leaving the workforce. But according to an August 2015 fact sheet released by the AARP Public Policy Institute, Workplace Retirement Plans Will Help Workers Build Economic Security, approximately 50 percent of Utah’s private sector employers representing over half of a million people do not have access to such a plan at work.

Guess what’s turning 50? For many AARP members who know that milestone well, it’s a program that is invaluable for their health and financial independence. Medicare turned 50 on July 30. Former President Harry S. Truman received the first Medicare card immediately after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965, and since then it has helped redefine “real possibilities” for many Americans, often freeing them from the fear of devastating medical bills that could jeopardize their individual and economic survival.

AARP applauds the bipartisan action taken on July 16, 2015 on S. 192, the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA) introduced by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) with Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The Senate passed the bill the week that the OAA celebrated its 50 anniversary of providing invaluable services to older adults.