Wise friends, fierce defenders: 2025 Legislative Priorities

More than 670,000 AARP members call Colorado home.

This legislative session, AARP Colorado’s advocacy team, which includes staff and volunteers from around the state, will be hard at work in four core areas – supporting family caregivers, striving for Coloradans of all ages to be able to age as they choose in their communities, working toward health security for people of all ages to live a healthy life, and being wise friends and fierce defenders on pocketbook issues. Here is how you can expect our team to show up in support of those 670,000 members and their communities:

Caregiving

Chances are you know a family caregiver – even if they do not call themselves one. We are talking about the friends and family members who do everything from helping a loved one get to the doctor’s office to assisting with wound care after a procedure. AARP Colorado looks for legislative opportunities to make caregiving easier. Beyond helping a constituency of more than 600,000 caregivers in the state, it makes fiscal sense. Caregivers alleviate stressors on state and federal systems, including Medicaid and local Area Agencies on Aging.

Livable Communities

Last year, AARP Colorado worked hard to make constructing accessory dwelling units – an increasingly popular alternative to long-term care – easier. Policies that improve the built environment may also give homeowners more options and help our communities thrive. AARP believes older Coloradans should be able to affordably downsize, if they choose. At AARP CO, we stand up for issues that address social isolation, increase housing security, and much more.

Health Security & Healthy Living

Colorado is an incredibly active state, and older Coloradans fully embrace what makes our state conducive to living a healthy lifestyle. From a policy perspective, AARP’s advocacy team looks for opportunities to make great strides and bolster work that empowers older Coloradans to live healthy. This looks like defending the work of the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB), as live-saving and health-improving prescriptions only work if people can afford them. It also means that agencies providing a wide array of health services have the resources they need to be effective.

Pocketbook Issues

Repeatedly, we are told of this year’s state budget fiscal challenges. Beyond the impending budgetary shortfalls, the advocacy team is looking out for legislation that does good for the financial wellbeing of older Coloradans. Related issues include preventing scams and frauds perpetrated with new technology, like cryptocurrency ATMs. We will also evaluate proposals related to junk fees, price gouging, and other issues that matter for financial security.

It will likely be a busy legislative session, but it will be a productive one for AARP Colorado and its members. With numerous new members joining the CO General Assembly, we are excited to get to know our new legislators, and for them to get to know AARP Colorado.