Shumway: Fighting battles before they arrive at your doorstep

Becky Farrell

By Sam Shumway
AARP State Director

I practiced law for a number of years before becoming the AARP Wyoming State Director. A lawyer’s job is difficult, as they are often working with individuals during extraordinarily stressful life events: divorces, injuries, broken business relationships, etc. While people don’t always love lawyers (especially the ones on the other side of the case), they do appreciate that someone is willing to stand up and fight for them during confusing and challenging times.

Here at AARP Wyoming, we consider ourselves fierce advocates, but it’s a different type of advocacy from what I was doing when I practiced law. Rather than coming into an already stressful and difficult situation at AARP, we try to keep the enemy far at bay and quiet - we want to fight the battles before they arrive at your doorstep. Our ears are always to the ground as we stay ahead of issues/problems that will negatively impact older Wyomingites and “head them off at the pass.” Whether it’s preserving funding for your local senior center, or fighting against ill-conceived Medicare reforms, we’re always watching, always listening, and always ready to engage to make sure that our 83,000 AARP Wyoming members’ interests are protected and they have a strong voice.

As we engage in this work, one of the most effective tools in our advocacy arsenal is our volunteers. The AARP Wyoming Government Relations Team (GRT) has been actively fighting along our side for years. During the legislative session, they are roaming the halls of the Capitol talking to lawmakers, listening to committee and floor debate, and even testifying on important issues. As we are confronted with literally hundreds of bills every session, they will call attention to problematic issues and help us decide how we will prioritize and strategically engage.

Recently, we have expanded the reach of our advocacy volunteers, and are actively recruiting statewide advocacy volunteers. These folks don’t need to be in Cheyenne, and most likely won’t ever go to the Capitol to do in-person lobbying. Instead, they are our local eyes and ears. As challenges to older Wyomingites are becoming more local all the time - think housing shortages and transportation issues - we need to have people who are connected and invested in their communities help make us aware of problems, and how to best engage.

As the 2022 legislative session approaches, we already know there are a few areas where we will need to engage:

• Supporting ARPA funding that helps develop an Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC), a call center where citizens can make one call to understand what aging services exist in their area.
• Continuing funding for broadband infrastructure to help our members find faster or more reliable internet access at appropriate prices. In our polling last year we were surprised at how important internet access is to our members.
• Keep an eye on utility laws being proposed to make sure they don’t adversely impact power bills of our members.
• Continued funding for home and community-based services.
• Making sure state law doesn’t put Medicare services at-risk.
• Protecting vulnerable adults from financial exploitation.

This list will grow as the session approaches and as bills start to make their way through the legislative process.

In closing, we would love your help! There are a few ways you can get involved if you live in, or near, Cheyenne, think about becoming a GRT volunteer. Next, if you’re concerned about things that are happening in your community, or just want to learn more about AARP’s advocacy work, you should consider becoming one of our statewide advocacy volunteers. Finally, as we move into the session, you may get an email from us asking you to contact a legislator on a bill that we are working on. If you have an opinion on that issue, take a minute to click the link and send a message to your legislator. They want to hear from you, and your voices matter a lot.

If you want to get involved, or just learn more, email me at sshumway@aarp.org or give me a call at 307-757-8428.