2023 Legislative Solutions: Defining Solutions that Support Seniors and their Caregivers

Posted on January 19, 2023 by Erin Huppert

In pursuit of our advocacy efforts this year, the Long-Term Care Imperative has created a one-page handout that clearly defines aging services' challenges and outlines the legislative solutions to address them. We encourage you to download and familiarize yourself with our 2023 Legislative Handout.

Helping lawmakers understand the need for action

Minnesota's legislative session is underway. With our 2023 legislative agenda approved by the Board of Directors, we must help lawmakers understand our challenges and how our policy solutions will address them in the language and imagery they know. The two primary distinctions between a legislative handout and the materials used in our communities to describe services or the seniors you serve:

• The audience: A legislative audience views problems and solutions differently than our residents and families. They must clearly understand a problem and how a proposed solution addresses it.
• The purpose: the goal of a legislative handout is to be persuasive and to demonstrate a clear case statement for action. It also needs to be concise, as policymakers and their staff review thousands of documents over a session.

Taking action in 2023

Caregivers, their families, and the communities that support them play a critical role in demonstrating the need for legislative action in 2023. Here are several ways you can get involved in leading change this year:

• Host a site visit for your local legislators; use this handout to educate and advocate for our 2023 priorities. Are you looking for support in executing a successful visit? Contact Dan Nelson, Director of Community Engagement, at dnelson@leadingagemn.org.
• Register for Advocacy Day at the Capitol on Monday, March 13. Join your peers in prioritizing senior care at the Legislature with a rally in the Rotunda and meetings with local lawmakers.