Sponsors
Introduced March 5, 2025 by Lisa Murkowski · Last progress March 5, 2025
The bill strengthens tribal voice, capacity, and in-home supports for Native elders—helping more people age safely at home—but does so at increased cost and administrative complexity and with risks that some communities may still face access gaps or delayed funding.
Native elders and tribal communities gain a formal, federally recognized advisory committee with guaranteed representation and an annual reporting/response process to influence Older Americans Act (OAA) programs.
OAA explicitly covering durable home modifications (ramps, grab bars, wider doorways, etc.) lets many older adults—especially low-income seniors—stay safely in their homes longer and can reduce nursing-home placements and related costs.
New coordination and reporting requirements (between HHS, Labor, CMS, IHS and Congress) and agency-focused reviews can improve alignment of services for Native elders and surface gaps in funding or access.
The bill raises federal and program costs—committee member pay at Executive Schedule IV rates, expanded training/technical assistance, durable home modifications, and required reports—which increases taxpayer outlays or reduces funds available for other OAA services.
Expanding covered services and training risks uneven access: communities with weaker OAA infrastructure may still lack home modifications or get fewer direct services if scarce funds are redirected to training or new priorities.
Creating the committee with special appointment rules and making 5 U.S.C. chapter 10 inapplicable may concentrate selection power and reduce standard federal leave/attendance protections for members, raising governance and representation concerns.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Creates a tribal advisory committee, expands in‑home assistance to include home modifications, boosts Title VI technical assistance, adjusts a funding set‑aside phrase, and requires two reports.
Creates a new Older Americans Tribal Advisory Committee inside the Administration for Community Living to advise on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian programs, requires the Committee to meet at least twice a year and submit an annual report, and authorizes member pay. Expands the Older Americans Act definition of in‑home assistance to explicitly include home modifications so older people can remain at home, strengthens technical assistance and training for Title VI grantees, adjusts language about a funding set‑aside, and requires two reports (to be delivered within 180 days) evaluating caregiving models, in‑home service needs, and barriers to tribal access to Title VI programs.