Action Alerts
Spring – a time for renewal – and renewing our commitment to advocacy for our programs
Dear NAGE Colleagues, It has been a busy period for NAGE and our partners here in the Nation’s capital. I hope you were able to join us for our webinar on education and advocacy. We worked closely with the Eldercare Workforce Alliance (EWA) and the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) on this comprehensive overview of our education and advocacy strategies for the 118th Congress. If you didn’t have a chance to join us for the live webinar on March 9, 2023, please view it here: NAGE/AGS/EWA Advocacy Webinar Spring 2023 on Vimeo The Advocacy Webinar Spring 2023 kicked off our advocacy week, March 13-17, 2023, where NAGE, EWA, and AGS staff joined NAGE members on calls with staff members of their Members of Congress (House and Senate). If you were not able to join us on those calls, please let us know if you are willing to participate in this advocacy, and we will work with you to schedule a call(s) or contact your Members of Congress by e-mail. Appropriations Advocacy The March 9 webinar provides background on the current appropriations process and...
Washington Posts – The Latest: January 2023
Happy New Year – Happy New Congress? The 118th Congress has started the year on shaky note. But like the newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20th) (with a record 15 ballots for that role under his belt!) and the first African American Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8th), we will make the best of it! Washington insiders know that although bipartisanship seems to be at an all-time low, the efforts of advocates are not only needed to expand programs, but also to protect programs from cuts, which seems to be the front and center goal for House Republicans. In fact, it is incumbent upon us to keep doing our jobs, explain to policy makers why our work is valuable and keep doing it well. As you know, the leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has changed, and Republicans are now the majority party (R:222, D:212). This means that committee chair roles are now held by Republicans, with Democrats serving as Ranking Members. Committees for GWEP/GACA reauthorization are Energy & Commerce in the...
Washington Posts – The Latest: July 2022
Fiscal Year 2023 Budget and Appropriations: The Senate Democrats released their FY 2023 Appropriations bills today. They have no plans of marking up the bills (passing) in the 12 subcommittees or the full committee. They will at some point - when the overall funding levels have been determined - begin negotiations with the House. Enough (60) Democrats and Republicans must agree on total spending for the year or the final package of bills will not pass in the Senate. Here is Chairman Leahy’s statement about the bills. The geriatrics funding for GWEPs and GACAs increases by $2 million in the Senate bill. The House bill which was passed by the full Appropriations Committee and its LHHS Subcommittee provides a $3 million increase. The full House has not yet passed the LHHS bill and is headed out of town for the August recess tomorrow. They are likely to return to the Capital to vote on the budget reconciliation bill (small version of Build Back Better) if the Senate is able to pass the new compromise between...
Washington Posts – The Latest: June 2022
Fiscal Year 2023 Budget and Appropriations: We are in the midst of the legislative process to fund the government for FY 2023. Earlier this year, the President sent his FY 2023 budget proposal to Congress and this week the House Appropriations Subcommittees will be “marking up” (considering, amending, and passing) their proposals for funding various government agencies. The bill to which we pay close attention is the FY 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Bill which is scheduled to be considered this Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 5:30 pm by the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee (LHHS). The Senate has not scheduled any of its mark ups. Last year, the House LHHS Subcommittee provided a $10 million increase for geriatrics programs (GWEP/GACA) under HRSA and the Senate LHHS Subcommittee provided an increase of $3.8 million. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, many programs ended up with less that either the House or Senate had provided. GWEP/GACA got only a $2.508 million increase. This year, the President...
Washington Posts – The Latest: December, 2020
The Short Story - Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations: The final version of the FY 2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill included in the giant pandemic/appropriations package provides geriatrics programs (GWEP/GACA) $42.737 million for FY 2021. This is a $2 million increase. The House had provided $2 million and Senate provided a $4 million increase. We got the lower level, but the fact that the Senate provided the $4 million helped us get what we did. NAGE advocated for $51 million for FY 2021 throughout the process. The bill provides Title VII Health Professions and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs with $754 million for fiscal year (FY) 2021, a $19.5 million (3%) increase from FY 2020 enacted levels. Attached is the HPNEC funding chart with HRSA programs. The House Labor-HHS bill provided $782.5 million for the programs, a $48 million (6.5%) increase, and the Senate bill would have provided $750.6 million, a $16 million (2.2%) increase over FY 2020. We have not identified any additional funds for GWEP sites...
Washington Posts – The Latest: April, 2020
HRSA Provides COVID-19 Emergency Funding to GWEPS: As you know NAGE asked Senator Collins and Rep. Schakowsky to secure the GWEP/GACA reauthorization in the CARES Act, and it was included. We also requested additional funding from Congress, and told HRSA we were working to secure funds for COVID-19 related work, but did not know that HRSA would use some of the undesignated funds they received in the CARES Act for supplemental grants totaling $4.3 million to GWEP sites. As you know, this will allow for at least $90K per site. So, we are extremely pleased with this outcome, and very appreciative of our friends on the Hill and at HRSA, who seem to be keenly aware of the pandemic work and needs of GWEP sites. While this was coming to fruition, we were developed another request with your valuable input and input from AGS, GSA, and EWA. The details are included below. Congress and the President Increase Small Business Loan Program: Roughly $484 billion in economic aid is on its way to small businesses, medical...
Washington Posts – The Latest: March, 2020
Dear NAGE Colleagues: What follows is some of the coronavirus related information I have written or pulling together. It’s probably too much, but feel free to skip what is not of interest to you. I hope that you and your families are safe and well. Brian What Congress Has Done and Where Are We Now: Starting with where we are now (then how we got here)…It’s been a bad day or two in the Senate. Over the weekend, the Senate tried but was unable to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act due to disagreements on provisions for corporations getting federal assistance as well as unemployment insurance and worker protections. Right now it’s a political mess with significant disagreements over this third coronavirus legislative package. Both sides are attempting to make the other party look like they are playing games while the economy is in peril. The R’s are trying to force the D’s to accept their bill without much compromise and the D’s are not willing to do that (yet). Bottom...
Washington Posts – The Latest: December 16, 2019
Appropriations – The Congress and the Administration appear to have struck a deal on funding for FY 2020, along with many other issues as they head toward the December 20 deadline and the holiday recess. The end of the year funding bills will be passed and signed this week. The news is not what we wanted for GWEPs and GACAs. Those programs were level funded at $40.737 (the same as FY 2019). Earlier in the year, the House passed Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill included an increase for the geriatrics programs by $2.647 million for a total of $43.384 million. The Senate bill provided level funding - $40.737 million. Unfortunately, the negotiations led to including the Senate’s lower amount. Our goal was $51 million. We advocated for this amount in part to give HRSA resources to fund additional GWEP sites that had scored well in the most recent NOFO. It appears that Congress was not sympathetic to our case. Regardless, thanks to all of you who advocated for the...
Washington Posts – The Latest: December 12, 2019
Authorization – There was so much action this past week bullets may summarize this best: First, thanks to those of you who supported our DC work this week as we fought to ensure that important provisions in the original GWEP/GACA bill were included in the bill that the HELP Committee marked-up, particularly thanks to Kate and Catherine. Late last week we were told in a meeting with Senator Collins’ staff that a bill to reauthorize Title VII of the Public Service Act would be considered by the full HELP Committee on December 12…and that there were several issues that they were still working on with Committee staff. These included changes from the bill we supported (S.299 – Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act – Collins/Casey): change in funding from $51 million to $40.7 million, a section allowing HRSA to provide an additional $100 K to GWEPS for work to train eldercare workers and family caregivers was removed, and they removed the word gerontology from the bill. During the meeting we and AGS and EWA made the case...
Washington Posts – The Latest: November, 2019
Happy Friday and it was great to see many of you at GSA in Austin! Appropriations - On November 21st, President Trump signed a Continuing Resolution (appropriations bill) to fund the government for another month, until December 20. This bill (H.R. 3055) was passed by the House (231-192) and the Senate (74-20) after negotiations on the full Fiscal Year 2020 bill failed to produce a consensus on allocations for each of the 12 subcommittees and a number of other issues including funding for the boarder wall. The CR keeps most of government funded at FY 2019 levels. Regarding the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies FY 2020 funding, the House passed bill had many important increases for programs serving older adults, including the Older Americans Act and geriatric education. The Senate has released (but not passed) its LHHS appropriations bill and it does not include most of the increases found in the House bill. Those differences will need to be worked out in the final bill, hopefully before December 20 or another...
Washington Posts – The Latest: October 29, 2019 – Additional
Here are a couple additional items related to the House passing the EMPOWER Act: Attached are the pages from the Congressional Record which include the bill, the floor discussion, NAGE quote and letter of support, and those of our colleagues; Also attached is the EWA press release; Here is a link to AGS’s press release - https://www.americangeriatrics.org/media-center/news/update-house-passes-empower-health-act-which-moves-senate-road-supporting-us-all; Here is a link to the Congressional Record which also includes the discussion of the other bills that I mentioned - https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2019/10/28/CREC-2019-10-28.pdf Dignity in Aging Act – H.R. 4334, which reauthorizes the Older Americans Act…page H8466 Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2029 – H.R. 728, which authorizes programs under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act…page H8513; and The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) – H.R.647…page 8521 Thanks, Brian Brian W. Lindberg, NAGE Public Policy Advisor 1612 K Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006 202-789-3606
Washington Posts – The Latest: October 29, 2019
EMPOWER Act Passes House – The EMPOWER for Health Act – H.R. 2781, which reauthorizes the GWEP and GACA programs under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act was passed by the full House of Representatives today by voice vote. The Senate has not yet acted on their bill, but this is a major milestone in the efforts of NAGE, the Eldercare Workforce Alliance, and AGS to secure these programs in statute. H.R. 2718 NAGE letter of support for H.R. 2718. Also to be passed today are: Dignity in Aging Act – H.R. 4334, which reauthorizes the Older Americans Act. H.R. 4334 Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2029 – H.R. 728, which authorizes programs under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. H.R. 728 The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) – H.R. 647 Thank you again for your support in this work! Brian W. Lindberg NAGE Public Policy Advisor 1612 K Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006 202-789-3606