WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

One in four Pennsylvanians currently are aged 60 years or older, and by 2030, one in three will be in this age bracket. Agencies on Aging have not received an increase in their regular block grant allocations since 2008 meaning they have been flat-funded all these years despite the increase in cost of living and inflation.

Local legislators passed the 2024-2025 PA budget and the requested Aging funding increase was not included. Because elected officials did not vote to transfer $15.2 million from PA Lottery profits, Union-Snyder Agency on Aging, Inc. has budget deficit of $362.000.00. This means our Agency has a 10% reduction in our current annual budget to support important programs like Home Delivered Meals, Congregate Meals (senior center meals), Personal Care, Personal Emergency Response Services, and more. To date, we have decreased Home Delivered Meals and Personal Care, discontinued Personal Emergency Response Services, and reduced the hours of our Senior Centers.

While we are grateful for the $20 million proposed in the Governor’s budget, we believe more is needed to address the growing needs of our aging population. According to the Center for Rural PA, from 2000 to 2030, the number of people under 20 years old is projected to decrease 9 percent, while the number of people 65 years old and older is projected to increase 58 percent. These changes have a distinct regional pattern. Rural counties in central and eastern Pennsylvania are projected to have a 4 percent increase in children and youth and a 72 percent increase in older adults.

Please join us in urging our elected officials to support the following items:

1. Support a $105 million increase to the “PENNCARE appropriation: The PENNCARE appropriation funds services in communities for older adults. This would bring the total allocation for the fiscal year 2025-26 to $392,848,000.
2. Ask for transparency: Make sure lawmakers know about the budget for older adults by including the Department of Aging’s proposed budget line-item appropriations in a “tracking document” lawmakers can use during budget negotiations and before voting. Such a document would compare this year’s appropriations with the proposed appropriations for next year. This information should be publicly available for all to see.
3. Use funds generated through the regulation and taxation of skill games to support AAA services for older adults. These “skill” games are reducing lottery purchases, competing with funding for critical services for Pennsylvanians age 60+.
4. Ask your legislator to talk with their caucus leaders and the Governor’s office sharing their support of increased funding for older adult services provided through AAAs.

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On March 26, the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Inc. (P4A) led a powerful coalition of nearly 80 advocates and leaders from 27 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) at the Pennsylvania State Capitol to demand lawmakers include crucial funding for AAAs in the upcoming state budget. Among them were our Executive Director, Holly Kyle, as well as staff Dea Schader and Kristy Dax. With them were two amazing constituents willing to tell their elected officials why our services are crucial to their daily lives.

Other older adults and AAA leadership met with over 200 lawmakers and their staff to share a personal plea as to why funding for AAAs is so critical. For many older adults, AAAs mean access to a hot meal, caregiver support, preventive health services, in-home care, transportation, legal assistance, & a sense of community that provides opportunities to be social.

Without additional funding, AAAs across the Commonwealth face significant challenges, including the potential closure of approximately 40 senior centers and the elimination or reduction of about 100 programs. We can’t let this happen.

Join us, P4A, older Pennsylvanians, and advocates in demanding our state legislators include adequate funding for AAAs in this year’s upcoming budget.