2024 Archives: Financial Security and Livable Communities

March

C: On Friday, March 28, AARP submitted comments to the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration on their proposed Automatic Portability Transaction Regulation. AARP has long fought to improve protections for retirement savers, including the preservation and portability of retirement amounts. In the comment, AARP urged the Department of Labor to ensure the protection of participants who find themselves subject to an automatic portability transaction, including ensuring fee transparency, proper disclosures, integrating automatic portability transactions within the Retirement Savings Lost and Found program, and providing the public with a venue to assess automatic portability providers. (PDF)

S: On March 21, 2024, AARP sent a statement for the record to the House Ways & Means Committee for their Joint Social Security and Work & Welfare Subcommittee hearing with the Commissioner of Social Security, Martin O’Malley. In the statement, AARP noted the importance of Social Security to millions of older Americans and their families, the need for increased funding from Congress to help improve customer service at the Social Security Administration, and the need to protect Social Security’s earned benefits for generations to come with a full and open debate in Congress. (PDF)

S: On March 20, 2024, AARP sent a statement for the record to the Senate Aging Committee for their hearing entitled “Keeping Our Promise to Older Adults and People with Disabilities: The Status of Social Security Today.” In the statement, AARP noted the importance of Social Security to millions of older Americans and their families, the need for increased funding from Congress to help improve customer service at the Social Security Administration, and the need to protect Social Security’s earned benefits for generations to come with a full and open debate in Congress. (PDF)

S: On March 20, 2024, AARP sent a statement for the record to the Senate Finance Committee for their hearing entitled “The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Social Security Administration Budget.” In the statement, AARP noted the importance of Social Security to millions of older Americans and their families, the need for increased funding from Congress to help improve customer service at the Social Security Administration, and the need to protect Social Security’s earned benefits for generations to come with a full and open debate in Congress. (PDF)

L: On March 12, AARP sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) and U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R-OH) endorsing their Dignity and Autonomy for Our Supplemental Security Income PNA Beneficiaries Act. This legislation would annually increase the $30 per month personal needs allowance (PNA) of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries residing in nursing homes to account for inflation. The SSI PNA currently enables over 100,000 SSI beneficiaries residing in nursing homes to purchase items like clothing, toiletries, and haircuts that are not covered by Medicaid. It was last updated by Congress in 1987 and since then, the purchasing power of the benefit has declined by roughly 60 percent. (PDF)

C: On March 11, 2024, AARP filed comments with HUD regarding a proposed rule making changes to the Community Development Block Grant program to make it easier for recipients to promote economic development and recovery in low- and moderate-income communities. AARP expressed support for reforms that facilitate the use of CDBG funds by recipients to fill financing gaps and for a more flexible definition of “elderly.” AARP further recommended that HUD provide technical assistance to recipients and strengthen the citizen participation process. (PDF)

L: On March 7, AARP sent letters to Senators Blumenthal, Cassidy, Warren, Markey, and Murphy and Representatives Courtney, Larson, Brownley, Crenshaw, and Rogers endorsing S.2264/H.R.4539, the Casualty Loss Deduction Restoration Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would reinstate the casualty loss deduction, allowing taxpayers to deduct losses that were the result of unexpected disasters and theft, including fraud. It would also reinstate this deduction retroactively, with a cap of $50,000 for retroactive claims. This will provide victims of fraud with some relief from the losses they have faced, even if they are unable to recover the funds that have been stolen from them. AARP has long worked to educate consumers, support fraud victims, and improve fraud detection and prevention at financial institutions. (House-PDF) (Senate-PDF)

February

S: On February 28, 2024, AARP sent a statement for the record to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions for their hearing entitled “Taking a Serious Look at the Retirement Crisis in America: What Can We Do to Expand Defined Benefit Pension Plans for Workers?” In the statement, AARP highlighted three areas for potential collaboration with Congress and the Administration to improve retirement outcomes in this country: expanding access to retirement savings plans, ensuring protections and support for those with defined benefit plans, and closing retirement advice loopholes that allow conflicted advice to eat away at retirement savings. (PDF)

C: On February 20, 2024, AARP submitted comments to the Department of Treasury in response to their Request for Information on Financial Inclusion. AARP highlighted the ways that financial inclusion throughout one’s life can lead to better financial security at older ages by fostering more savings, noting that financial security hinges on two important aspects of our financial lives: access to safe and affordable banking and access to credit. (PDF)

S: On February 15, 2024, AARP sent a statement for the record to the House Committee on Education & the Workforce for their hearing entitled “Protecting American Savers and Retirees from DOL’s Regulatory Overreach.” In the statement, AARP urged members of Congress to support the Department of Labor Retirement Security Rule, which would require financial professionals put their clients’ best interests before their own when advising retirement savers about their investments. AARP noted that our polling shows that 9 in 10 adults over 50 support this requirement and that it is vital to ensure retirement savers have the protections they deserve. (PDF)

L: On February 14, 2024, AARP sent a letter to Senators Cassidy and Kaine and Representatives Fitzpatrick and Manning endorsing the Auto Reenroll Act of 2023. This legislation would permit plan sponsors to automatically reenroll non-participants at least once every three years, unless they affirmatively opt out, which will increase plan participation, help prompt employees to take better advantage of their benefits, and increase employees’ retirement savings. This legislation would help to ensure workers take advantage of their retirement plans and full employer match. (PDF)

L: On February 7, 2024, AARP sent a letter to Rep. Richard Neal (D-Ma.) expressing our support for the Automatic IRA Act of 2024. This legislation would expand retirement plan coverage to millions of workers who do not currently have employer-sponsored retirement plans. It would also require that these plans meet certain requirements, including automatic contribution. More than half of private-sector workers do not have access to retirement savings through their employer. Research has clearly found that access to retirement savings through the workplace make a tremendous difference: Americans are about 15 times more likely to save for retirement when they have a workplace plan and 20 times more likely to do so if contributions are automatic. (PDF)

January

C: AARP filed comments with HUD on January 30, 2024, in support of a proposed rule to require eviction notices 30 days in advance of eviction proceedings for nonpayment of rent for residents in public housing and properties receiving project-based rental assistance. AARP also urges that the rule be extended to other reasons for eviction, that notices be required to include information about a tenant’s right to reasonable accommodation, and that rental repayments be required over time (rather than a lump sum payment), among other recommendations. (PDF)

L: On January 29, 2024, AARP sent a letter to U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and to U.S. Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Stephanie Bice (R-OK) responding to a bipartisan, bicameral Request for Information on solutions to expand access to paid leave for all Americans. In the letter, AARP stresses how paid leave policy must include family caregivers to support the millions of older workers who provide care for either a child, an older loved one, or both. More importantly, family caregivers help older adults age independently in their own homes and communities, where the vast majority of them want to be as they age. (PDF)

L: On January 24, 2024, AARP sent a letter to Senators Hickenlooper and Tillis, and Representatives Smucker and Sewell, extending our support for the Retirement Savings for Americans Act. Nearly 1 out 4 Americans have no retirement savings and many more are concerned about their financial security in retirement. The Retirement Savings for Americans Act would help more families across the country save for retirement. (House-PDF) (Senate-PDF).

L: On January 24, 2024, AARP sent a letter to Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Senator Angus King (I-ME) endorsing the Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit Extension and Enhancement Act. This legislation will provide consistency and certainty to businesses by making tax credit 45S permanent. In addition, the proposed enhancements to the credit will encourage more employers to provide this important benefit to support working family caregivers with low to moderate incomes. (PDF) 

S: On January 10, 2024, AARP sent a statement for the record to the House Financial Services Committee for their hearing on “Hearing Entitled: Examining the DOL Fiduciary Rule: Implications for Retirement Savings and Access.” In the statement, AARP urged members of Congress to support the Department of Labor Retirement Security Rule, which would require financial professionals put their clients’ best interests before their own when advising retirement savers about their investments. AARP noted that our polling shows that 9 in 10 adults over 50 support this requirement and that it is vital to ensure retirement savers have the protections they deserve. (PDF)

L: On January 9 and 10, 2024, AARP sent a letter to both the Senate and House, extending our endorsement for the Affordable Connectivity Extension Act of 2024. The bill seeks to provide $7 billion in additional funding to extend the program through 2024. The ACP, created by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, has helped more than 22 million households — including 10 million age 50 and older — get and stay online so they can communicate with their doctors, connect with caregivers, and fight isolation while aging at home. (House-PDF) (Senate-PDF).

C: On January 8, 2024, AARP submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on their proposed rule, “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications.” AARP noted they support the examination of consumer protections related to large participants operating payments systems such as funds transfers and wallet functionality through digital applications in the United States. Despite often being marketed as fast and secure, many of these platforms offer fewer protections to their users than is afforded to users of traditional credit and debit cards, which is a regulatory gap in the consumer financial protection framework surrounding emergent technologies. (PDF)

C: On January 8, 2024, AARP submitted a comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the proposed “Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees.” The FTC proposal would prohibit misrepresenting the total costs of goods and services by omitting mandatory fees from advertised prices and misrepresenting the nature and purpose of fees. AARP highlighted in its comment letter the impact of junk fees on older Americans and the importance of transparent and upfront fee disclosures to allowing consumers to make well-informed choices and fostering fair competition. (PDF)

C: On January 2, 2024, AARP submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Labor on their “Proposed Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary.” AARP emphasized this Proposal would address loopholes in existing regulations and require that financial advisers put their clients’ best interests before their own. AARP believes policies that inhibit savers’ ability to build their retirement savings and exacerbate our retirement crisis must addressed to ensure Americans have the ability to retire with financial security and dignity. (PDF)