At the CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting on Monday, July 26th we will review a list of possible CCA advocacy topics for summer 2021. For these topics we are looking for:
- Team Leads
- Research Volunteers
- Outreach Advocates
Some of you did volunteer for these positions at our last CCA Advocacy Committee Meeting and we thank you. Now we need to fill out our teams!
More about CCA Advocacy Topics:
Some of the advocacy topics are more research oriented with small group discussion, then that team reports back to the CCA Advocacy Committee at a Monday morning meeting.
Other advocacy topics involve immediate advocacy work such as following up on bills that passed and the rule making process for that bill.
Depending on your interests, background, and availability, you can choose your level of involvement. Also, if you don’t feel you have the background, but you have a high-interest in the “advocacy topic,” you can learn from your advocacy topic team and your team lead. However, we need to stress that we need people to volunteer. If we don’t have the volunteers we need, then we need to set aside some of the advocacy topics until volunteers step forward.
Our Advocacy Topics Fall into Three (3) Categories:
2021 Bills CCA Followed and/or Supported and they were Dropped
This involves follow up and research on Bills that did not get introduced or did not pass in 2021. We need to understand why they were dropped or did not pass. This helps us determine if we want to push them to the Legislators for 2022 or was it good for the bill to be dropped.
Follow up on Bills that Passed and Rule Making
This involves becoming familiar with the details of the Bill and interacting with the agency that is developing the rules for the specific bill that passed. It also could mean the bill did not address all of the intended issues. One example is SB21-158 Geriatric Health Care Providers. We need to work at obtaining funding continuation and provider expansion.
2022 Legislative Solutions for New Advocacy Issues
There are many potential new advocacy topics that may have a legislative solution. Some general topics include transportation for dialysis patients, future of Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging (SAPGA), Senior Property Tax Exemption, Property Tax/Rent/Heat Rebate (PTC Rebate), and impact of COVID-19 on care homes, sustainability of AAA funding, and many others. We need help going through the list and finding the most important advocacy topics that CCA should be focused on for 2022-2023 legislative session. This does not mean we are writing the bills, but that we are looking for strategic partners who are working on these issues and we partner with them to offer input and support.
At Monday, July 26th meeting we will share a detailed list of the current advocacy topics and who has volunteered already.
Note that we welcome all experience levels in the work of advocacy and legislative research. Don’t be put off in volunteering, if you feel you don’t understand the advocacy or legislative process. We have team leads that can get you started and other seasoned CCA volunteers to guide you.
One more item we are asking, if you are going to volunteer and work on an issue with the CCA Advocacy Committee, we request that you join Colorado Center for Aging. When you become a member, we know you are serious about our work.
Join Today as an Individual – HERE
Join Today as a Supporting Organization – CLICK HERE
Not sure you are a member, send us an email and we will check. Have other questions? Send us an email and we are glad to answer your questions.
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