Staying Fit
Thousands of AARP members and volunteers will begin attending virtual meetings and emailing their members of Congress Tuesday to make it clear what issues they expect their elected officials to act on.
Traditionally, lawmakers would see these constituents walking the halls of the nation's capital and sitting across from them at conference tables. Activists from across the country would fly to Washington and join AARP staff on Capitol Hill.
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But the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a change of plans. The organization had its first virtual lobby effort in April. “This is an opportunity for folks to speak directly to their members of Congress,” says Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs. “It's also a great opportunity for members of Congress to hear from their constituents, so it's a win-win for both.” In the end, Sweeney adds, members of Congress will actually speak to more people than they would have for an in-person event.
Lobby Week, Sweeney says, is a way for AARP members and volunteers to highlight issues that may have been overshadowed by other concerns during the election campaign, such as the pandemic. The three major issues on the agenda, he says, are nursing home safety, food insecurity and a glitch in Social Security that could hurt Americans who turn 60 this year.
Protecting nursing homes
High on AARP's list of priorities is the need to ensure nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have the testing capacity and personal protective equipment that residents and staff need to keep themselves safe and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
More than 97,000 nursing home residents and staff have succumbed to the novel coronavirus, making these facilities the source of 40% of COVID-19 deaths.
