On April 10, a bipartisan group of senators – Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) – introduced the National Nursing Workforce Center Act (S. 1482). The legislation aims to address nursing workforce shortages across the country by increasing collaboration between the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the 49 state nursing workforce centers in order to equip communities with the tailored resources, education, and training they need to recruit and retain nurses. Primarily, the legislation would make it possible for HRSA to create a federal nursing-focused workforce center, establish a pilot program to support state-based nursing workforce centers, and mandate reports assessing the impact of this partnership and if and how it should be expanded nationwide. On April 24, Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Lori Trahan (D-MA) introduced the Caring for Our Seniors Act (H.R. 3000) aimed at addressing the cost of care and the shortage of long-term care workers. The legislation would provide eligible low-income seniors with a monthly $1000 benefit to help cover assisted living expenses and would expand federal workforce training programs through the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. This legislation was called the Safeguarding Elderly Needs for Infrastructure and Occupational Resources (SENIOR) Act in the previous Congress. LeadingAge supports these bills.
