Standing Up for Seniors in Hartford

By: Senator Kevin Kelly, Co-Chairman of the Aging Committee

As Chairman of the Aging Committee I have worked hard to fight against the governor’s continual cuts to the needs of seniors by advocating for programs that help individuals age in place at home with dignity.

Connecticut seniors make up roughly 14 percent of the state’s population and the state allocates approximately 10 percent of the annual state budget for long-term nursing home care for seniors. By 2032 the number of seniors in Connecticut is expected to increase by nearly 69 percent, making Connecticut seniors 25 percent of the total population.

To meet the needs of our growing senior population we must pursue cost-effective ways to address our aging population – investing in community based programs, programs that make it affordable for families to meet the high expense of staying home is essential.

That is why this legislative session I championed new laws and protected funding to help our seniors and their caregivers, including a bipartisan budget that focuses on fiscal stability for hard-working middle-class families.

Some of the important 2018 legislative highlights regarding aging include:

• Protected funding for the Medicare Savings Program which helps cover some of the out of pocket costs of Medicare – this will help 169,450 seniors across Connecticut.
• Protected retiree tax breaks that were approved in the 2017 budget. This maintained the repeal of the tax on social security and pension income which Governor Malloy sought to reverse.
• Our budget, which would not have been possible without Republican leadership, also restores the $200 property tax credit. The property tax credit was first enacted in 1995 – the provision enables middle-income households to reduce their tax obligation to reflect some or all of the municipal property taxes they had paid. Another win for hard-working families.

• As Chairman of the Aging Committee we protected funding for the Elderly Nutrition Program. This program offers seniors the opportunity to live independently in their community by providing socialization and much more. Meals are served at senior centers, elderly housing facilities, schools, churches and other community settings. Home delivered meals may also be provided for participants in the program who are homebound or geographically isolated.
• We also funded the Connecticut Home Care Program. This program is critical to help seniors, who are at risk of being placed in a nursing home, afford the needed care to stay at home. The goal is to allow seniors who need medical and personal care to remain living at home instead of being placed in the more expensive nursing home which will improve the quality of their life and is less expensive.

Caregivers and seniors should not have to shoulder more burdens because of a governor and his unrelenting fiscal irresponsibility and apathy toward seniors.

I will continue to fight for seniors – giving those who want to age in place safely at home, a voice in Hartford; a voice that will not be silenced by ignorance or indifference.