II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1536 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to support healthy aging and 

age-friendly communities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to support 

healthy aging and age-friendly communities. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Age-Friendly Commu5 nities Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON 

2 HEALTHY AGING AND AGE-FRIENDLY COM3 MUNITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(c) of the Older Amer5 icans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3013(c)) is amended to read 

6 as follows: 

7 ‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary, in collaboration with other 

8 Federal officials specified in paragraph (2)(A), shall estab9 lish— 

10 ‘‘(A) in accordance with paragraph (2), an 

11 Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy 

12 Aging and Age-Friendly Communities to develop a 

13 national set of goals, in accordance with subpara14 graph (G) of such paragraph, to support the ability 

15 of older individuals to age in place and access pre16 ventive health care, promote age-friendly commu17 nities, and address the ability of older individuals to 

18 access long-term care supports, including access to 

19 caregivers and home- and community-based health 

20 services; and 

21 ‘‘(B) in accordance with paragraph (3), a pub22 lic-private coordinating body to provide recommenda23 tions for implementing such goals and to develop 

24 best practices for public sector stakeholders or pri25 vate sector stakeholders that are related to such 

26 goals. 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) The officials referred to in paragraph (1) 

2 shall be the members of the Committee, which shall in3 clude the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 

4 Assistant Secretary for Aging, the Chief Executive Officer 

5 of the Corporation for National and Community Service, 

6 the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commis7 sion, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

8 Prevention, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare 

9 & Medicaid Services, the Director of the National Institute 

10 on Aging, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 

11 Labor, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 

12 the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Vet13 erans Affairs, and may include, at the direction of the 

14 President, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the 

15 Treasury, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Com16 missioner of Social Security, the Secretary of the Federal 

17 Trade Commission, and such other Federal officials as the 

18 President may direct. 

19 ‘‘(B) An official described in subparagraph (A) may 

20 appoint a designee to carry out the official’s duties under 

21 this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

23 shall serve as the first chairperson of the Committee for 

24 1 term. After that term, the Committee shall select a 

25 chairperson from among the members of the Committee, 


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1 and any member may serve as the chairperson. No mem2 ber may serve as the chairperson for more than 1 consecu3 tive term. 

4 ‘‘(D) The chairperson shall designate an executive of5 ficer who shall facilitate communication between the Com6 mittee and the public-private coordinating body estab7 lished under paragraph (1)(B). Each member of the Com8 mittee shall provide to the executive officer a designated 

9 point of contact responsible for assisting in and carrying 

10 out any functions and duties assigned to the Committee. 

11 ‘‘(E) For purposes of this subsection, a term shall 

12 be a period of 2 calendar years. The first term shall start 

13 1 year after the date of enactment of the Age-Friendly 

14 Communities Act of 2019. 

15 ‘‘(F) The Committee shall meet not less often than 

16 biannually. 

17 ‘‘(G)(i) The goals required under paragraph (1)(A) 

18 may include— 

19 ‘‘(I) improving coordination among Federal 

20 agencies with responsibility for programs and serv21 ices that impact older individuals; 

22 ‘‘(II) identifying, promoting, and implementing 

23 (as appropriate) best practices and evidence-based 

24 program and service models to assist older individVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1536.IS S1536

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1 uals in meeting their housing, health care, and other 

2 supportive service needs; 

3 ‘‘(III) effectively collecting and disseminating 

4 information about older individuals and the pro5 grams and services available to the individuals to en6 sure that the individuals can access comprehensive 

7 information; 

8 ‘‘(IV) adequately assisting States in better pro9 viding housing, health care, and other supportive 

10 services to older individuals; 

11 ‘‘(V) ensuring the continued collection of data 

12 relating to the housing, health care, and other sup13 portive service needs of older individuals and sup14 porting efforts to identify and address unmet data 

15 needs; and 

16 ‘‘(VI) identifying any barriers and impediments, 

17 including barriers and impediments in statutory and 

18 regulatory law, to the access and use by older indi19 viduals of federally funded programs and services. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Not later than the last day of the Committee’s 

21 first term, the Committee shall publicly post and dissemi22 nate the goals required under paragraph (1)(A). Not later 

23 than the last day of each term following the first term 

24 of the Committee, the Committee shall update such goals 

25 and publicly post and disseminate such updated goals. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) In developing and updating such goals, the 

2 Committee shall actively seek input from and consult with 

3 public sector stakeholders and private sector stakeholders, 

4 and shall coordinate with and consider recommendations 

5 from other working groups, advisory boards, or inter6 agency entities established by law. 

7 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 3 years after the date of en8 actment of the Age-Friendly Communities Act of 2019, 

9 the Committee shall establish a public-private coordinating 

10 body to provide recommendations for implementing the 

11 goals developed and updated by the Committee under 

12 paragraph (2) and to develop best practices for public sec13 tor stakeholders or private sector stakeholders related to 

14 such goals. 

15 ‘‘(B) The coordinating body shall be co-chaired by 

16 one head or deputy of a Federal agency described in para17 graph (2)(A) who is appointed by the Committee, and 1 

18 representative of a private sector stakeholder whom the 

19 Committee invites to serve on the coordinating body. 

20 ‘‘(C) Based on the goals developed and updated by 

21 the Committee under paragraph (2), the Committee 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) determinate the structure of the coordi24 nating body; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) invite public sector stakeholders to serve 

2 on the coordinating body, including representatives 

3 from the Federal Government and State and local 

4 governments; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) invite private sector stakeholders to serve 

6 on the coordinating body, aiming for diversity in 

7 stakeholders serving on the coordinating body, in8 cluding geographic diversity of stakeholders. 

9 ‘‘(D) Not later than 2 years after the coordinating 

10 body is established under this paragraph, and every year 

11 thereafter, the coordinating body shall provide to the Com12 mittee, and the public, a report on implementing the goals 

13 developed and updated by the Committee under paragraph 

14 (2), on ways for updating such goals, and on best practices 

15 for public sector stakeholders and private sector stake16 holders related to such goals. 

17 ‘‘(E) The coordinating body shall not be subject to 

18 the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

19 U.S.C. App.) if the coordinating body establishes a proce20 dure approved by the Committee for avoiding conflicts of 

21 interest. 

22 ‘‘(4) In this subsection— 

23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘age-friendly community’ means 

24 a community that— 

25 ‘‘(i) is taking measurable steps to— 


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1 ‘‘(I) include adequate and accessible 

2 housing, accessible spaces and buildings, 

3 safe and secure paths, variable route trans4 portation services, and programs and serv5 ices designed to maintain health and well6 being; 

7 ‘‘(II) respect and include older indi8 viduals in social opportunities, civic partici9 pation, volunteerism, and employment; and 

10 ‘‘(III) facilitate access to supportive 

11 services for older individuals; 

12 ‘‘(ii) is not an assisted living facility or a 

13 long-term care facility; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) has a plan in place to meet local 

15 needs for housing, transportation, civic partici16 pation, social connectedness, and accessible 

17 spaces; 

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Committee’ means the Inter19 agency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging 

20 and Age-Friendly Communities established under 

21 paragraph (1)(A); 

22 ‘‘(C) the term ‘private sector stakeholder’— 

23 ‘‘(i) means a stakeholder with an interest 

24 in aging and that is not a representative of the 


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1 Federal Government or a State or local govern2 ment agency or office; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) includes an entity, meeting the re4 quirements under clause (i), that is a nonprofit 

5 organization, academic or research institution, 

6 faith- or community-based organization, philan7 thropic organization, or other entity supporting 

8 age-friendly communities; and 

9 ‘‘(D) the term ‘public sector stakeholder’ means 

10 a stakeholder with an interest in aging and that is 

11 a representative of the Federal Government or a 

12 State or local government agency or office.’’. 

13 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REGARDING AGE14 FRIENDLY INITIATIVES.—Section 205(a)(2) of such Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 3016(a)(2)) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub17 paragraph (D); and 

18 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(C) The Assistant Secretary may provide technical 

21 assistance, including through the regional offices of the 

22 Administration, to State agencies, area agencies on aging, 

23 local government agencies, or leaders in age-friendly com24 munities (as defined in section 203(c)(4)) regarding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) support for public sector stakeholders and 

2 private sector stakeholders in building partnerships 

3 to promote such age-friendly communities; 

4 ‘‘(ii) dissemination of, or consideration of ways 

5 to implement, best practices and recommendations 

6 from the public-private coordinating body established 

7 under section 203(c)(1)(B); and 

8 ‘‘(iii) methods of leveraging resources to meet 

9 the needs of growing age-friendly communities.’’. 

Æ 


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