AARP VT 2024 Legislative Agenda

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that empowers people to choose how they live as they age. We advocate on issues that affect residents at the local, state, and national levels.

In Vermont, AARP represents 112,000 members of from all 14 counties and walks of life. AARP Vermont’s legislative advocacy work serves these members by making Vermont a better place to live and age.

We invite you to join us in advancing AARP Vermont’s 2024 Legislative Agenda. Please email Charlie Gliserman, Advocacy Director, at cgliserman@aarp.org to learn more and get involved.

DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION OF OUR 2024 Legislative Agenda

Implement Age Strong VT, Our Roadmap for an Age-Friendly State
Age Strong VT is a new, ten-year state plan that serves as a roadmap for state agencies and lawmakers, business owners, social service agencies, town and city planners, and the healthcare industry, to build a coordinated and efficient system of services. Its overarching goal is to enhance and secure the right for all Vermonters to age safely and happily, while maintaining dignity and respect.

AARP Vermont supports implementation of the policy objectives and funding needs outlined in the plan to ensure Vermont becomes an age-friendly state.

Support Family Caregivers with Paid Family and Medical Leave
Vermont’s 70,000 family caregivers are the backbone of a broken long-term care system, providing $1.23 billion in unpaid labor each year. A strong paid family and medical leave program offers critical support to Vermonters as they juggle the demands of their work and caring for a loved one, welcoming a new child, or recovering from a health crisis.

With paid leave, family caregivers can stay in the workforce and their loved ones can remain at home - where they want to be. AARP Vermont supports passage and implementation of a strong paid leave program, like House-passed bill H.66.

Increase Housing Choice and Affordability for Aging in Community
Increasing housing choice and affordability in Vermont’s downtowns and village centers is critical to providing older adults with options to age in their community and foster independence. AARP Vermont supports promoting these goals through zoning reform, incentives for Vermont municipalities, tax incentives for development of age-specific housing, and updating the Designation 2050 program.

Designation 2050 is a statewide project to evaluate, reimagine, and redesign Vermont’s statewide designation programs for the next 25 years. Despite its success, sustaining vibrant, livable communities requires more coordinated and continuous community development efforts that address the need for active transportation options and age-friendly housing. AARP Vermont supports efforts to modernize the program and move forward the following recommendations.

Stabilize and Invest in Vermont’s Long-Term Care System
Long-term care services support older adults and Vermonters with disabilities who need support to perform basic activities of daily living, such as eating or bathing. These services enable Vermonters to age in their homes and communities, resulting in positive health and wellness outcomes and savings to the healthcare system.

Chronic underfunding and workforce shortages have compromised Vermonters’ access to these essential services. AARP Vermont supports making substantial investments to stabilize Vermont’s long-term care system and annual updates to providers’ reimbursement rates, to keep pace with inflation, changing market pressures, and increases in cost of care.

Expand Affordable and Accessible Transportation for People of All Ages
A variety of safe, affordable, dependable, and accessible travel options enables people of all ages to work, stay active, and engage in their communities. Well-designed roads help to extend many older adults’ safe driving years, and at the same time, make it possible to travel by foot, bicycle, or public transit safely.

AARP Vermont supports a variety of regulatory and budget changes to realize this transportation vision. This includes: supporting municipalities in planning and implementing Complete Streets; exploring the potential to restructure the Class 1 Town Highway formula; updating regulations to better protect bicyclists and pedestrians; and investing in the Better Connections Program, the Downtown Transportation Fund, and the Bike/Ped Grant Program.

Support Community Development with the Better Places Program
Vibrant, inclusive, and accessible public spaces are critical to addressing social isolation among older adults and fostering intergenerational opportunities. The Better Places Program is a state grant program that provides important funding opportunities to community-led projects that create a new public space or revitalize or activate an existing public space. Despite its positive impact, the program is currently set to sunset in June 2024.

AARP Vermont supports removing this sunset and formalizing the Better Places Program in state statute to ensure its long-term viability and success.

Expand Access to Vermont’s Medicare Savings Programs
Medicare Savings Programs reduce low-income Vermonters’ out-of-pocket Medicare costs by helping pay for Part B premiums and cost-sharing. The current income limits for these programs are extremely low, leaving many Vermonters with Medicare without this critical support and unable to afford the health care they need. AARP Vermont supports H.118, an opportunity for meaningful health care reform by increasing these income thresholds.