Area Agency on Aging 1 - B

T HE A DVOCATE November 2014

What to Expect During the Lame Duck Sessions In This Issue:

The Legislature and the US Congress are now back  What to Expect During to work serving their constituents after the general election. the Lame Duck In what is commonly referred to as a “lame duck session,” Sessions both the and the US Congress have unfinished business to attend to.  AAA 1-B Regional Election Results At the state level several issues are likely to see action. Topping the list of items according to both Governor Snyder and outgoing  The Advocate Mail List Senate Majority Leader is road funding which Update also supports public transportation options. Though several solutions to fix Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure have been pro-  Silver Key Coalition posed and agreements have nearly been reached, it is believed Wins AARP-MI Stephen that a plan was not adopted because of caution around the J. Gools Award for November election. With the election behind us, leadership is Social Change hopeful a compromise can be reached. The other issue likely to see action in the lame duck session is debate surrounding the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in Michigan’s Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Currently in Michigan, persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) can be fired from their jobs, denied housing or public services based solely on their orientation or identity. This impacts LGBT persons of all ages, but is particularly relevant to LGBT older Michiganians who face housing and long-term care challenges. At the request of the LGBT Older Adult Coalition, the Area Agency on Aging 1-B is in the process of analyzing this issue and developing a formal position.

In the US Congress two issues of focus are producing a spending bill for FY 2015 and making a decision on the “tax extenders bill.” The October edition of The Advocate reported that Con- gress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund government programs through December 11, 2014. Legislators will need to either pass a full year CR for 2015 providing funding at FY 2014 lev- els or work to pass an omnibus appropriations bill which is a compilation of smaller funding bills packaged together to make it politically easier to pass them all at once. Failure to take budget- ary action could result in a shutdown of the federal government.

What to Expect During the Lame Duck Sessions Continued...

A second likely priority of Congress will be to take action on dozens of tax breaks known as “extenders” that expired at the close of FY 2013. These extenders are tax breaks mostly targeted toward businesses. A letter from the IRS Commissioner John Koskinen states, “it is important that Congress decide whether or not to extend these expired provisions as early as possible when Congress returns and no later than the end of November.” Koskinen cites that “uncertainty surrounding these extenders could delay the opening of the 2015 filing season and delay the processing of tax refunds for millions of Americans.” Koskinen further states that if congress waits until 2015 to take action on the tax extenders it would, “likely result in service disruptions, millions of tax- payers needing to file amended returns, and substantially delayed refunds.

Senate Bill 2260 which would extend the tax breaks had bipartisan support in the Senate Finance Committee in spring, but has stalled on the Senate floor.

http://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/IRS%20letter%20to%20Wyden%20on%20extenders.pdf

Area Agency on Aging 1-B Regional Election Results

In the coming weeks the Area Agency on Aging 1-B (AAA 1-B) will be releasing an updated version of our, “Contact your Legislator Guide.” This updated guide will be broken down by county and feature contact information for both state and local elected officials. In the meantime, the following table provides a snapshot of thestate-level election results for the AAA -1 B service region.

This list is broken down by county. Legislators indicated in bold have districts that overlap more than one county.

County H/S Dis Salutation Name Party TERM Livingston S 22 Senator R 2 of 2 Livingston H 42 Representative R 1 of 3 Livingston H 47 Representative Henry Vaupel R 1 of 3 Macomb S 8 Senator Jack Brandenburg R 2 of 2 Macomb S 9 Senator Steven Bieda D 2 of 2 Macomb S 10 Senator Tory Rocca R 2 of 2 Macomb S 25 Senator R 2 of 2

Macomb H 18 Representative Sarah Roberts D 3 of 3 Macomb H 22 Representative John Chirkun D 1 of 3 Macomb H 24 Representative Anthony Forlini R 3 of 3 Macomb H 25 Representative Henry Yanez D 2 of 3 Macomb H 28 Representative Derek Miller D 1 of 3 Macomb H 30 Representative Jeff Farrington D 3 of 3 Macomb H 31 Representative Marilyn Lane D 3 of 3 Macomb H 32 Representative Andrea LaFontaine R 3 of 3 Macomb H 33 Representative Ken Goike R 3 of 3 Macomb H 36 Representative R 1 of 3 Monroe S 17 Senator R 2 of 2 Monroe H 17 Representative Bill LaVoy D 2 of 3 Monroe H 56 Representative Jason Sheppard R 1 of 3 Oakland H 26 Representative Jim Townsend D 3 of 3 Oakland H 27 Representative Robert Wittenberg R 1 of 3 Oakland H 29 Representative Tim Greimel D 2 of 3 Oakland H 35 Representative D 1 of 3 Oakland H 37 Representative Christine Greig D 1 of 3 Oakland H 38 Representative Kathy Crawford R 1 of 3 Oakland H 39 Representative Klint Kesto R 2 of 3 Oakland H 40 Representative Mike McCready R 2 of 3 Oakland H 41 Representative Martin Howrylak R 2 of 3 Oakland H 43 Representative Jim Tedder R 1 of 3 Oakland H 44 Representative R 1 of 3 Oakland H 45 Representative Michael Webber R 1 of 3 Oakland H 46 Representative Bradford Jacobsen R 3 of 3 Oakland H 51 Representative Joseph Graves R 2 of 3 Oakland S 11 Senator D 2 of 2 Oakland S 12 Senator R 2 of 2 Oakland S 13 Senator R 1 of 2 Oakland S 14 Senator David Robertson R 2 of 2 Oakland S 15 Senator R 2 of 2 St. Clair S 25 Senator Phil Pavlov R 2 of 2 St. Clair H 32 Representative Andrea LaFontaine R 3 of 3 St. Clair H 81 Representative R 2 of 3 Washtenaw S 18 Senator D 2 of 2 Washtenaw S 22 Senator Joe Hune R 2 of 2 Washtenaw H 53 Representative D 3 of 3 Washtenaw H 54 Representative David Rutledge D 3 of 3 Washtenaw H 55 Representative Adam Zemke D 2 of 3

Area Agency on Aging 1-B Regional Election Results Continued... 2015-2017 United States Congress County District Salutation Name Party Monroe/Washtenaw 7 Representative Tim Walberg R Livingston/Oakland 8 Representative Mike Bishop R Macomb 9 Representative Sander Levin D Macomb/St. Clair 10 Representative Candice Miller R Oakland 11 Representative Dave Trott R Washtenaw 12 Representative Debbie Dingell D Oakland 14 Representative Brenda Lawrence D United States Senators District Salutation Name Term Expires Statewide Senator Debbie Stabenow 1/3/2019 Statewide Senator Gary Peters 1/3/2021 The Advocate Mailing List Update

In the coming months in an effort to reduce postage costs we will be working to update our mailing list for The Advocate. We will be sending a post card questionnaire to all U.S. Mail recipients of The Advocate. In order to continue receiving this monthly newsletter by U.S. Mail, we will ask that the questionnaire is completed and returned to us. This will not impact those who receive The Advocate by e-mail.

In the interim, if you receive The Advocate by U.S. Mail and you would be willing to change to receiv- ing the electronic version, please email Ryan Cowmeadow so we can update our lists at rcowmead- [email protected].

Silver Key Coalition Wins AARP-MI Stephen J. Gools Award for social Change

On November 1, AARP-Michigan presented the Silver Key Coalition (SKC) with the Stephen J. Gools Award for Social Change in honor of their work to make Michigan a no wait state for senior in-home services. The award is given annually to the individual, couple, group or non-profit organization that has significantly contributed to positive social change. The award is named for former AARP Michi- gan State Director Stephen Gools, who passed away in 2011 after a career of distinguished public service. SKC members were on hand to accept the award at the AARP Shining Stars Award Ceremony.

The Area Agency on Aging 1-B (AAA 1-B) is a nonprofit agency serving the needs of older adults in Living- ston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, and Washtenaw counties. Contact Ryan Cowmeadow, (248) 262-1282 or by e-mail at [email protected] to join the Senior Advocacy Network or receive copies of AAA 1-B reports referenced in The Advocate.