AARP Iowa Wraps Up 2007 Legislative Session
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2007-08-03 13:36:00-04:00
The 2007 legislative session was very successful.
AARP advocates, volunteers and partners celebrated a major victory when Gov. Chet Culver signed Senate file 128, raising the state cigarette tax by $1 to $1.36. The bill requires that the money raised be used solely for funding health care and improving the health of all Iowans.
This $1 increase in the tobacco tax for health care was AARP Iowa's top legislative priority for the 2007 session. It had been a top priority for the past five years, consistently supported by 70 percent of Iowans.
AARP worked diligently with a large coalition of organizations, including the American Cancer Society and providers, on this multigenerational, multiyear campaign. Culver thanked AARP and partner organizations that worked together for the tax increase passage. He said passage helps Iowa fulfill its commitment to fully funding the Senior Living Trust Fund, which was another issue for which AARP has been working the past five years.
In addition to passage of the cigarette tax, AARP worked with Iowa's Legislature to:
- Fund Iowa's Substitute Decision Maker Office, an initiative that will help adults in need of a legal guardian, conservator or lesser level of substitute decision-making assistance. Iowa was previously one of only six states in the nation that did not fund such an office.
- Create a task force to make recommendations for a "single point of entry" to Iowa's long-term living resources. Such a program will provide consumers with better access to information necessary for making good decisions about long-term care.
- Increase funding for Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office. Iowa ranks last in the country in number of long-term care facility beds per ombudsman and in percentage of nursing facilities visited by an ombudsman at least quarterly. AARP supported legislation to protect nursing home residents' rights and to ensure high standards of nursing home quality by increasing funding for the state's Long- Term Care Ombudsman Office.
To stay in touch or learn more about AARP Iowa priorities, contact Associate State Director for Advocacy Anthony Carroll via email [acarroll@aarp.org]or (515)697-1015.
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