News About Funding.

Robert J. Kellerman

Executive Director

AgeAdvantAge, Inc.

Area Agency on Aging

2850 Dairy Drive, Suite 200

Madison, WI 53718

608.224.6304

608.224.6306 fax

kellermanb@mailbag.com

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October 23, 2007

Smith-Lincoln Amendment Passes Senate;

Adds $10 Million to OAA

Despite numerous legislative hurdles in the past several days, the Smith-Lincoln amendment to increase funding for several Older Americans Act programs prevailed today, passing the Senate under unanimous consent in a revised form. The final vote on the entire Labor/HHS/Education spending bill for FY 2008 is scheduled for this afternoon.

This is a victory for every OAA advocate! Please be sure to spread the good news far and wide. n4a is grateful for the tremendous grassroots activity generated in support of the Smith-Lincoln amendment and thanks everyone who took part.

The following Q&A should bring you up to speed. Please direct any additional questions to n4a’s policy staff: Amy Gotwals (agotwals@n4a.org) and KJ Hertz (khertz@n4a.org), 202-872-0888.

How did we go from $40 million to $10 million?

The original amendment language included $40 million for various OAA programs, but it fell to our champions (Sen. Gordon Smith, R-OR, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-AR) to try to get the amendment approved by the appropriations leaders who manage the process. Given the many realities of passing such a massive bill in the time allotted and the need to follow the strict requirements to fully pay for any amendments, the Smith-Lincoln amendment was eventually reduced to $10 million to ensure passage. This still required tremendous advocacy by our champions, and would not have happened without their leadership. Advocates in Oregon and Arkansas need to particularly let Senators Smith and Lincoln know how much we appreciate their hard work.

How did my Senators vote?

In the interest of expediency, and because the amendment had been agreed to by the appropriations leaders, the amendment was grouped with other non-controversial amendments and passed under “unanimous consent.” This means there was no roll call vote, so your Senators didn’t actually need to cast a vote. But your calls made a difference — we raised the profile of OAA and let the Senate know of the need for more funding!

Iowa and Pennsylvania aging advocates should also be sure to thank Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), the appropriations leaders who supported the Smith-Lincoln amendment.

What does the amendment do?

It adds $10 million to the appropriations bill’s spending on OAA. Title III B, supportive services and senior centers, will see $5 million of that amount, essentially providing a $5 million raise over last year’s level. The amendment also gives the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) $3 million. NFCSP, like III B, would have otherwise been flat funded in the Senate bill, so this provides a $3 million increase over last year. The final $2 million will go toward two of the nutrition programs under III C: congregate and home-delivered meals. This builds on the increases those programs would already see in the Senate bill.

What happens next?

After the Labor/HHS bill (H.R. 3043) passes the Senate floor, likely today, the House and Senate appropriators need to hold a “conference” to work out differences between their two versions of the FY 2008 spending bill.

This will require your advocacy again! There is much more to like in the Senate bill (e.g., more money for most OAA programs, including Title VI and Choices for Independence ) but we’d like to have the House prevail on a few other line items (III B, Title V). So stay tuned for an n4a Advocacy Alert on what you can do to help us secure the best possible compromise between the two chambers.

After that process is completed, the two chambers quickly pass the compromise, or conference, agreement and the bill goes to the President for his signature. As you know, President Bush has threatened to veto this bill, so final completion will require further negotiations between Congress and the Administration. Meanwhile, since the 2008 fiscal year began on October 1, all federal programs are funded at last year’s levels under a “continuing resolution” (CR). The current CR expires on Nov. 16.

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à For more information about these and other federal aging policy issues, please contact n4a’s public policy and legislative affairs staff: Amy E. Gotwals (agotwals@n4a.org) and K.J. Hertz (khertz@n4a.org), 202-872-0888.