Preventing Falls and Fraud on 2026 Legislative Agenda

As she stopped by a bakery to pick up French crepes, Sandra Drew of Madison didn’t notice the buckled sidewalk before its raised edge caught her left shoe and threw her to the concrete, where she smacked her knee and forehead.

“I felt myself going, but I couldn’t catch myself,” says Drew, 84, a retired legislative liaison for three state agencies.

A scan at the emergency room revealed bleeding in her brain. Soon a black eye and large bruise bloomed on her face.

Although she recovered, that 2023 fall was the latest of roughly a dozen Drew has endured over the past two decades. And it’s why she has joined AARP Wisconsin’s effort to push for funding to expand fall-prevention programs and services.

It’s one of several priorities for AARP in this year’s session of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Others include efforts to protect consumers from criminals who steal money via cryptocurrency kiosks and legislation that would expand housing options.

Preventing falls is a major issue in Wisconsin, which data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows has the country’s highest rate of fatal falls for people 65 and older. Wisconsin’s rate of 158 unintentional fall deaths per 100,000 people is more than twice the national average and about five times the lowest rate, in Alabama. Nationwide, falls are the leading cause of injury for people 65 and older.

Drew has had her share of falls — and worries about them. She broke a leg and suffered a concussion in two tumbles down the stairs in her home, once while carrying a laundry basket and another after her golden retriever mix, Blaze, accidentally clipped her leg. A family visit to Maryland ended in a flight home for surgery after she fractured an elbow.

Drew says she’s grateful none of the falls left her in a wheelchair or relying on a walker, as she’s seen happen to friends in her retirement community. She also feels lucky she’s never broken a hip, which can shorten life expectancy in older people.

Even so, Drew says, “that little bug” of fear about it happening again has left her more cautious.

The legislation would provide $900,000 for fall-prevention classes held across the state by the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging over two fiscal years, ending June 30, 2027.

The institute’s “Stepping On” workshops teach how to prevent falls through balance and strength exercises, as well as how to keep a hazard-free home. The problem is increasingly straining emergency services. In 2024, first responders handled more than 140,000 fall-related calls statewide — more than 20 percent of 911 ambulance calls, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS

AARP Wisconsin is also supporting efforts to protect Wisconsinites from criminals who use cryptocurrency ATMs, which are also known as crypto kiosks or BTMs and are often found in gas stations, restaurants or bars. The scammers direct people to deposit cash into the machine, where it’s transferred digitally to the criminal.

Erin Fabrizius, an associate state director of advocacy for AARP Wisconsin, says the organization wants the state to join 17 others in passing laws to protect kiosk users, such as by limiting daily transactions and requiring machines to print receipts that law enforcement could use to try to track down criminals.

Other AARP priorities include:

• Advocating for legislation to allow homeowners statewide to convert attics, basements and garages into living spaces, also known as “accessory dwelling units,” or ADUs. That would allow more older adults to live with grown children or other family while preserving their own space, according to AARP Wisconsin. Currently, only some Wisconsin municipalities allow such conversions as a basic property right.
• Supporting legislation from a bipartisan task force on elder services, which was formed in September by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester). AARP hopes the task force focuses on issues such as tax breaks for family caregivers, efforts to curb social isolation, and protections against fraud and financial exploitation, Fabrizius says.

Meanwhile, AARP Wisconsin also will help educate voters on those issues and others affecting older adults in advance of the Aug. 11 primary and Nov. 3 general elections. Statewide offices will be on the ballot, and the governor’s race is expected to receive national attention, as it will be the first since 2010 — and only the second in 40 years — without an incumbent running.

“The legislature is engaged on older adult services, and we’re a key constituency for the election,” Fabrizius says. “So it’s a great time to be an AARP member and have influence.” ■

Katherine Shaver has been a journalist for more than 30 years, including 26 years at The Washington Post.

MORE ON AARP'S ADVOCACY

• Fall Prevention Tips
• AARP Fraud Watch Network
• Family Caregiving Resources