Andrea Nunez, MDOA Legislative Director has been leading those efforts, and was very pleased with the outcome. “This legislative session was uniquely challenging due to the state’s structural budget challenges and initial impact of a new federal administration,” she said. “We had three priority bills this year and all three of them passed.”
MDOA also provided support for other successful legislation intended to prepare the state for longevity-readiness through caregiving, affordable housing creation, and healthy aging supports. These achievements demonstrate the impact of collaborative advocacy efforts among state agencies, Area Agencies on Aging, and other advocacy partners, and underscore the vital role MDOA plays in crafting state policy to support Marylanders as we age.
Early in the session, Maryland was at risk of losing important funding for the Senior Care program, which provides critical services to help older adults remain safe in their communities through in-home support. “It’s a really wonderful program,” explains Andrea. “A beautiful state-funded complement to Older Americans Act services.”
As a result of MDOA's legislation this year, the Senior Care program will be combined with two other MDOA programs to streamline services and more efficiently serve a greater number of older adults. In the end, funding was restored and MDOA’s three priority bills were passed:
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HB36, SB212 - Supporting Older Adults with Resources (SOAR): Consolidates and restructures three existing state-funded programs supporting older adults in their communities efficiently and effectively.
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HB158, SB223 - Senior Call Check and Social Connections Program: Expands the communications methods used to check in on the wellbeing of program participants to enhance its value, increase enrollment, and reduce social isolation.
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HB538, SB445 - Federal Commodities Supplemental Food Program: Transfers the responsibility of program administration from MDOA to the Department of Human Services to better align with existing state resources.
“All Maryland residents can feel good about what MDOA accomplished in the 2025 legislative session,” said Andrea. “Aging is the great equalizer. We are all aging and we all want to be prepared for it. It’s good to be part of something that makes a positive impact on all Maryland residents.”
Andrea credits this year’s legislative successes to proposing the right bills at the right time. “By modernizing existing programs, we found a path forward to strengthen services in a fiscally sustainable way. With a little bit of elbow grease and reorganization, we can implement these changes at no cost to the state.”
The fact that the session coincided with the public review period of Longevity Ready Maryland (LRM) was both a challenge and an opportunity, as MDOA didn’t have the benefit of a final set of recommendations to work from. But with reductions and uncertainty among federal funding sources anticipated, the restructuring of state-funded resources to help MDOA do more with less aligned closely with proposed goals and objectives in the plan.
LRM has recently concluded its public review period and launch will be in July.
“The 2025 legislative session was an important early test for how LRM intends to prepare the state for the growing population of older adults going forward,” said Carmel Roques, MDOA Secretary. "Maryland's first multisector plan for aging focuses on partnership and collaboration across sectors and working smarter, not harder. We put those ideas into action and achieved our 2025 legislative goals.”
MDOA was strengthened by collaborating with partners at several state agencies, including the Departments of Health, Planning, Disabilities, and Housing and Community Development, and the Maryland Insurance Administration. Other collaborating partners included county governments and organizations like the Maryland Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the Maryland Association of Counties, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Mental Health Association, AARP, the Maryland Senior Citizen Action Network, 1199 SEIU, and other members of the Caring Across Maryland Coalition.
For more details about the 2025 legislative session, visit https://aging.maryland.gov/Pages/Legislation.aspx
