Kudos to AARP Washington volunteers!

At AARP Washington, we know our success depends on the caring, compassion, and dedication of our wonderful volunteers.

We are excited to take a moment to celebrate some recent milestones and give hearty thanks for all you do for AARP and your community.

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Way to go Spokane!

Our Spokane volunteer chapter makes an effort at each chapter meeting to collect food donations for Second Harvest Inland Northwest, which distributes approximately three million pounds of food each month to the food insecure across 21 counties.

The team-driven food drive collected enough donations to provide 824 nutritious meals for local seniors facing hunger. 

At a recent meeting, the Spokane team took some time to recognize local volunteer superstars George and Lynnette Rice for their work managing the food donation program.

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Legislative Wins Abound

Our 2023 legislative session has passed, and all bills are signed. It is because of your commitment, along with the help of members across that state, that we made it this far!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

All of us are thrilled that we finally made significant progress in the housing arena, garnering four major wins in housing policy. Here is a snapshot of what we achieved together.

HB 1355 Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) (Gregerson) allows construction of ADUs across the state. This bill approaches the housing crisis by reducing regulatory barriers to build accessory dwelling units, also called garden cottages or mother-in-law apartments. ADUs can fill many roles, like providing a place for an aging parent to live or for a family caregiver.

HB 1110 Missing Middle Housing (Bateman) allows duplexes, triplexes and quads into residential communities. The goal of this bill is to provide affordable housing options not only for young families but older adults who might want to move out of a single-family home that is no longer affordable or difficult to maintain. The goal is to help people age in place and remain in their communities.

HB 1355 Senior Property Tax Exemption (Wylie) increases access to the exemption. The income threshold increases based on median income by county and will also be reviewed and adjusted every 3 years versus the previous 5 years. The goal is to help older adults age in place if they chose to stay in their own home. The Governor signed this bill on April 20^th!

AG-request, HB 1329 (Mena), would prevent utility shut offs during extreme heat.  The goal of this bill is to prevent utilities and landlords from terminating water or electric service when heat gets to a certain temperature just as the law currently prevents shut offs in very cold temperatures. In 2021, 167 people died during the “Heat Dome” and 67% were 65+. The Governor signed this bill on April 20th!

AG-request, HB 1051 (Leavitt) - The Robocall Scams Protection Act - strengthens and modernizes Washington’s anti-robocalling law by updating the definition of automatic dialing and making it a violation of the Consumer Protection Act to robocall someone on the Do Not Call Registry or knowingly facilitate illegal robocalls if you are a voice service provider.  The Governor signed this bill on April 20th!

SB 5198, Preserving Manufactured and Mobile Home Communities (Frame) This bill protects the residents of manufactured home parks from displacement. The legislation requires two years’ notice before the closure of a manufactured home park and gives residents of the park a fair chance to purchase the park themselves. (See Budget wins below for funding to enact this legislation)

SB 5182 (Kuderer) Ends the practice of advisory votes and improves voter communication. While touted as a way to capture the voice of the people, advisory votes have been misused and are used as propaganda and misinformation. They lack balance and facts for voters to make informed decisions.

HB 1128 (Bateman) Personal Needs Allowance (PNA). For older adults and individuals with disabilities who want to stay in their homes, they pay the state a majority of the money for an in-home care provider. Increasing the PNA allows people to keep more of that money for things like toiletries, cell phone bills, meals out and entertainment—things that are critical to people’s quality of life, health and well-being.  The Governor signed this bill on April 27!