Prioritize Programs Benefiting Older Adults, AARP Tells Congress

We’re urging lawmakers to prioritize funding for the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — the program formerly known as food stamps — housing and rental assistance programs and others that benefit older adults. In a series of letters to Capitol Hill last week, we shared our hopes for how lawmakers handle ongoing federal budget appropriations. Among our priorities:

• Investments in departments and programs specifically catered to older adults, including the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Administration for Community Living.

• Continued funding for SNAP and additional funding for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which is responsible for improving health and food access for low-income older adults.

• A boost to funds for rural housing, rental assistance and the Housing for the Elderly and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance programs.

Lawmakers must “continue to make investments in programs that help ensure older Americans can live independently and with dignity as they age,” Bill Sweeney, senior vice president for government affairs at AARP, wrote in one of the letters. Members of the House and Senate are currently engaged in conversations around the federal government’s budget for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Read our letters to members of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, the House Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies and the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services.