U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, led his colleagues in authoring a letter to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to express concern about its recent regulation to require states to prioritize delivering Older Americans Act meal and support services to individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The lawmakers outline the harmful consequences of this recent change and urge the ACL to reverse its rulemaking.
The Older Americans Act (OAA) authorizes support services and nutrition programs for older Americans such as congregate meal services, home-delivered meals (e.g. Meals on Wheels), transportation assistance, and caregiver respite. Since all older Americans qualify for services, states and area agencies on aging are required to prioritize the delivery of meals and support services to those with the “Greatest Social Need” and the “Greatest Economic Need.” The Biden-Harris administration’s new regulation under the OAA expands the definition of the “Greatest Social Need” to include social isolation caused by sexual orientation and gender identity among other factors. This expansion has not been approved by Congress and state administrators of OAA services have yet to determine how to comply with this new requirement.
“The Older Americans Act was designed to fulfill essential services for our seniors, not serve as a vehicle for Kamala Harris’ gender identity politics. This expansion diminishes the prioritization placed on serving rural seniors like those in my state of Oklahoma,” said Sen. Mullin. “The Biden-Harris administration has once again expanded bureaucratic overreach without the consent of Congress or any real plan of how states might carry out this regulation. I want to thank my colleagues for recognizing the harm this haphazard expansion will cause and joining me in this effort to reverse it.”
Sen. Mullin is joined by Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
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