Jason Maciejewski (00:00):
Welcome to Inside The Senior Alliance, a podcast exploring resources and issues in the field of aging. I’m Jason Maciejewski, CEO at The Senior Alliance, the Area Agency on Aging, serving Western Wayne County and the Downriver area. Joining me today is State Representative Jason Morgan, who serves the 23rd House District, which includes parts of Wayne and Washtenaw County. Representative Morgan, thank you for taking the time to join us today.
Jason Morgan (00:22):
It’s great to be with you, Jason. I’m glad to be here.
Jason Maciejewski (00:25):
Great. So let’s talk about what you’re seeing day to day when it comes to older adults. I know you’re really active out in the district. I see your Instagram all the time and the events that you’re at and the places that you’re visiting, people that you’re talking to. So what do you see and hear from older adults in your area about what they need right now?
Jason Morgan (00:42):
Well, thank you. You know, one of the big things that I see is that we have a lot of older adults who are really struggling these days. You know, that’s one of the things I see with my aging grandparents and older family members. You know, we think about all the challenges that we’re facing as a state and as a country. Our seniors have been experiencing a unique set of challenges because so many of them are living on fixed incomes when their energy rates and water rates and property taxes are all going up at the same time. These are some of the burdens that impact them. So I would say ability is the biggest challenge I see for a lot of older Michiganders. With these prices going up, you know, that’s not even getting to healthcare or groceries or housing.
Jason Morgan (01:28):
So that is one of the significant challenges. And you know, even if you look back, just as far as three or four years ago, things are so much more challenging today and we have too many older Michiganders that are forced to think about which prescription they can afford to take on this month or if they can stretch those pills a little bit further or whether they can afford to buy groceries and healthy food that they want to eat at their home. So that’s one of the big things that I’m seeing along with social isolation and challenges associated with being able to connect with and get to see family and friends and get out into the community as much as folks want to do.
Jason Maciejewski (02:07):
So there are a lot of things that you’re seeing out in the community with people. You mentioned isolation, you mentioned finding out about resources. Do you feel that people are really struggling to identify where they can find resources and what services are available right now?
Jason Morgan (02:20):
I do think that’s one of the challenges that folks face. We have quite a few resources available between our amazing network of nonprofits throughout Michigan and particularly here in Washtenaw County where you and I live, and also, you know, a number of government supportive services. But a lot of folks don’t realize what’s all out there or what they qualify for. And at least a lot of the older Michiganders in my family, sometimes folks don’t want to ask for help or they don’t feel like they are somebody who should be getting help because they’ve worked really hard throughout their entire life and you know, made a decent living when they were working and they want to take care of themselves and their family without anybody supporting them. But the reality is today we have these services and supports because we know times are tougher than they’ve ever been. So folks who may have never needed help ever before or ever thought they might need assistance, really should look at whether they qualify for some of these things, even if it’s just an extra meal here and there or a discounted bus trip or ride to the doctor’s office, whatever it may be. We really want to make sure folks are taking advantage of these things that are existing and better understanding what more we can and should be doing to support folks.
Jason Maciejewski (03:32):
Certainly it’s one of the things we struggle with as an Area Agency on Aging is awareness about our programs. We don’t have a marketing budget per se. Most of the money that we receive in terms of funding goes into services. So I would encourage everybody that might be listening if you live in Washtenaw County to call Age Ways your Area Agency on Aging or in Wayne County, The Senior Alliance as we are really hubs to identify resources and we refer people over to available resources in the community where they live. And we play that role as an Area Agency on Aging and always trying to raise awareness about what’s out there for people. So appreciate your assistance on that as well. Representative, I want to pivot to veterans for a moment here. You have served in the Coast Guard and you actively have been advocating for veterans issues. You introduced House Bill 5266, which we create an office on veteran homelessness. So when you think about the issues that veterans are facing, how can the state play a better and maybe bigger role in helping veterans in general?
Jason Morgan (04:29):
Well, thanks for asking. Yes, I’ve been very passionate about helping make sure that we’re supporting our veterans. I chaired the Military and Veterans Budget Committee in the state legislature this last term and continue serving on it today. And one of the things that I found out during some hearings in my time as chair was that we still have here in Michigan a number of homeless veterans in our state. Despite the number of different programs and services that are provided for veterans, we still have a number of folks who are living homeless in our communities. And candidly, I think nobody should be homeless in our state and in our country given the resources and wealth that this country has. But at the very, very least, to have somebody who has served our country honorably be homeless on the streets is just heart wrenching for me and something that I think is un-American.
Jason Morgan (05:23):
I just think it’s absolutely outrageous that we would have homeless veterans in our country today. So that’s one of the things I took on as chair and said, we need to have a report, have an assessment from the department on what are the numbers, who are we looking at and what are the things that we can do to make sure we’re getting these folks into housing. And we found a number of ways we could do that. One of them I think, would be creating this office of veteran homelessness and making sure that we’re structurally considering that every single year. But we also took some action last term. We passed a bill that would require folks who are renting out housing to accept veterans vouchers. Previous to this last term, a landlord could say, I don’t want to rent to somebody because they’re a veteran and because they have a housing, a veteran voucher for their housing.
Jason Morgan (06:11):
And the department said, well, we should, I don’t know, give money to these landlords or something to incentivize them. And I said, absolutely not. It is outrageous that they would say no to renting to somebody because of their veteran status. Why don’t we just pass a law that says you can’t discriminate against somebody because they’re a veteran in housing? And that is exactly what we did. We passed a law that says you can’t discriminate against somebody based on how they’re paying their rent as long as it’s legal. So if it’s a housing voucher as a veteran or a housing voucher, if you’re lower income or some other public benefit, that must be considered in your ability to pay your rent. And I was very, very happy that we passed that bill with a one vote margin and got that through so that now in Michigan, if you’re a landlord that rents more than six units, you cannot say no to a veteran simply because they’re paying with a government veteran voucher to pay for their housing. So that was huge. But we also put in a grant program for the last couple of years to directly fund veteran housing services throughout our states through a grant program. So that’s another step that we took and we got to keep looking at how we make sure that every veteran is housed in our state because I want to get to a point where we have zero veterans homeless here in Michigan.
Jason Maciejewski (07:23):
Thank you for your work on that. It’s another step forward in terms of combating homelessness amongst veterans and older adults and it’s a significant step forward. So thanks for your continued work there. One of the other things you’ve done in the legislature is you’ve co-chaired the legislature’s bipartisan public transit caucus and that’s helped advance public transportation throughout the state. Transportation mobility, as you’re well aware, are critical for many older adults to remain active and engaged in the community. From your perspective, how should we be addressing the mobility needs of older adults?
Jason Morgan (07:55):
Absolutely. That is one of the biggest challenges facing a lot of older Michiganders. Transportation plays a huge role in independence. You know, ask somebody who doesn’t have a car or can’t drive, whether they be an older Michigander or a teenager or someone living with a disability, if you can’t drive around anymore, it’s not like the rest of the world has stopped for you. You still need to get to your doctor’s appointment, your grandkids choir concert to attend, you know, religious services and missing a medical appointment because someone couldn’t find a ride isn’t just inconvenient, it’s scary. Sometimes these appointments take months to schedule for critical services, and so we need to be making these major investments in local transit across the state. That’s why we created the Transit Caucus and I’m really happy with the work that we’ve been able to do this year and a number of things I could mention.
Jason Morgan (08:42):
One, here in Washtenaw County, you know, as you’re aware, voters took a big step in approving the senior millage that did include transit as a component of that. That’s going to be instrumental in expanding door to door and accessible transit options for older adults and for people who are 60, it’s free in our community now. So you can book that ride on your phone or an app or through a call. I think that’s a good example of how local government can make a difference in people’s lives. At the state level you’ve heard my concerns previously, I do worry about funding any of these services on through property tax increases at this point. That’s a counter concern for seniors is balancing out what they can afford to pay with the need to provide services. So I do think that’s an ongoing worry and that’s not a long-term permanent solution is to just look to property tax revenue.
Jason Morgan (09:33):
So that’s where you point to the state. The state needs to be doing our part to fund and match local transportation funding options. So we had big wins this year with investing $160 million into public transit and it’s an increase statewide in this year’s budget. That’s a major win and the largest investment in public transit. Largest increase investment in public transit in Michigan’s history. So that can put more buses on the road, improve service reliability and accessibility, and help communities plan to support all of their residents. We also got a hundred million of that for transformational transit projects. So that will give us a choice for the first time ever to invest in incredible projects like coast to coast passenger rail that could connect Grand Rapids to Detroit and all the communities in between. We could increase options to take the train to Chicago or from Ann Arbor to Detroit. These are opportunities that can build connections and opportunities and give people a real choice in how they move about in their lives. And so that’s, I think a critical piece that the state needs to do is significantly increase our matching dollars to our local transit agencies so they can make those local dollars that residents are paying go so much farther and be so much more accessible.
Jason Maciejewski (10:50):
Thank you for your advocacy on those transportation issues. And yeah, you pointed out Washtenaw County, if you’re 16 over in Washtenaw County, you need a door- to-door ride to a doctor’s appointment or to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription or anything like that. That ride is now free thanks to the millage. So hopefully that can be a model for other places as well. That door-to-door transportation is really critical for older adults and we appreciate your advocacy at the state level on these transportation issues. It’s really the number one, number two things that we hear about are transportation and in-home services. So very critical and thanks for your work there. Another thing that you’ve been really engaged with, going back to your time on the Washtenaw County Commission before you got to Lansing was LGBTQ+ issues. And what supports and resources or policies do you think are needed right now to improve the wellbeing of that community, especially those that are older adults?
Jason Morgan (11:38):
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s something that folks don’t always think about is the needs of our, our older LGBTQ Michiganders. You know, for a lot of folks who are LGBTQ in rural parts of the state like where I grew up. Connection to other LGBTQ people and being able to interact with and see other folks like you is really important. One of the decision points of why I chose to live in Ann Arbor after growing up in rural Michigan was honestly as a gay person sometimes rural Michigan is a little bit lonely in that respect. There just aren’t as many people and there aren’t as many visible out LGBTQ people. And so that was one of the decisions I made to live in a community where there are more LGBTQ people. Of course I live with my husband John in Ann Arbor now, and we’re very fortunate and very happy.
Jason Morgan (12:27):
But you know, a lot of folks who are older as you lose your spouse or if you know, are single, you know, I think that’s where that transit connection comes in to be able to make sure folks can get out and into the community, meet other people, spend more time with family. And then we need policies like what we’ve passed in Michigan to make sure that our basic rights are protected when it comes to, you know, marriage for example. That is an ongoing thing that I’d like to fix in Michigan to make sure that we permanently protect marriage equality in our state, protecting LGBTQ folks from discrimination and housing and employment and access to services. That is an amazing thing that we are able to pass last term under a democratic trifecta. Something that we had worked in for 40 years so that everyone is protected regardless of their sexual orientation or identity.
Jason Morgan (13:14):
But then also making sure that along with marriage comes a lot of inherent rights around inheritance and power of attorney from medical decisions and making sure that your loved one or your spouse has those rights so that if something were to happen to you as you age, they’re able to be with you and care for you in all of the ways that any other loving couple would have in our state. And so those are some really big things that we have protected in Michigan, but are always an ongoing issue to pay attention to make sure that we’re continuing to protect these basic rights for people.
Jason Maciejewski (13:49):
Right. Thanks for your leadership on those issues as well. We know we’ve seen things with people in nursing facilities and hospitals in the past where they haven’t been able to have their loved ones with them or decisions made. So thank you for the work that you’ve been doing in that area as well. I want to talk about demographics here for a moment. Nearly one in four Michiganders are age 60 and over at this point, we’re getting really close to that number. We’re one of the older states in the nation in terms of average age. There was just an article in Cranes Detroit Business I think a week ago talking about the workforce implications of an older population. When you look at policies and what we should be prioritizing as a state when it comes to older adults, you know, where do you think we should be going? What should the priorities of policy makers be?
Jason Morgan (14:37):
You know, I think that there’s – this may sound odd coming when talking about some older Michiganders here, but I think technology is one of the biggest drivers of increased accessibility and access for folks in terms of being able to access everything else in the world. Whether that be safety features on cars for folks as they age and you know, maybe vision and eyesight or quick reactions aren’t as quick as they used to be. You know, some of those safety features and things I think are really helpful. I think in terms of how we look at Michigan as a state, I think that it is important for us to try and find ways to support and advance new technologies that can help folks access what they need to access. Thinking about from a policy perspective of how we make sure that we’re protecting things like food supports and a lot of the things that we’ve talked about already, I think that’s really important.
Jason Morgan (15:30):
But also just thinking about how do we make it possible for folks to stay living in our state and afford to be here. You know, I’ve mentioned property taxes a little bit earlier, but one of the big challenges that seniors face is their ability to age in place. A lot of folks live in a home that may have stairs or be less accessible as you get to you know, a point that’s more physically challenging for you. It’s really hard to move in our state because you might want to downsize to a two bedroom house or a one bedroom house or a condo type thing, but your property taxes skyrocket when you do that. So sometimes you’ll downsize to a much smaller home and pay twice as much in property taxes or three times as much as you were before because you are leaving that home that you’ve been in for 30 years.
Jason Morgan (16:17):
That is something I think we should be taking a look at as a state to think through. Is there some mechanism that we can put in to allow folks to move more easily, maybe smooth out that jump in taxes in some way when you move, if you’ve been in a home for so many years. Or look at new home buyers, you know, thinking the other end of the spectrum of young families that might want to move in. You know, that young family that might want to buy your home, their property taxes will double as soon as they move into that house too. So how do you help some of our folks who are, you know, seniors who want to downsize, but also young families that might want to move in. I think there is a real opportunity for us to take a hard look at that as a state.
Jason Morgan (16:58):
I know it’s like very nerdy like tax policy conversation versus like some grand plan, but I think something like that is fundamental to how we live and move around. Our ability to live in our state and live in a home that you can afford and physically have the ability to maintain is crucial to living a good life. And I think that’s one piece that we have to take a look at as policy makers. But overall, just making sure that we’re understanding our aging population and making policies that take those voices into account as we’re deciding what to prioritize is I think critical.
Jason Maciejewski (17:34):
I want to close with an advocacy discussion with you. I do this with the elected officials that we have on the podcast because we really like hearing from those of you who are in the elected space, what makes an effective advocate and how can people make their voices effectively heard by their representatives and senators in Lansing?
Jason Morgan (17:55):
That’s a phenomenal question and I think a really important piece of folks reaching out and making their voices heard. The easiest thing folks can do is email their legislators. That’s something you can do from the comfort of your home for a lot of folks or call them. Emails tend to be more effective in many cases because there are things that the legislators can read and respond to more easily. But emails and phone calls to just let them know what your concerns are, let them know what’s on your mind and what challenges you’re dealing with. You know, you have a broad range of legislators. You have somebody like me who’s on the younger spectrum. You have other folks who are older Michiganders in the legislature, but you have folks from all over the state that have different priorities that they’re balancing out.
Jason Morgan (18:36):
And so the more that they’re hearing from their constituents around what issues are directly impacting them, I think is really important. One direct example of this is we are currently setting priorities as a democratic caucus for this next term. We’re trying to go through this visioning project to say, you know, what should our priorities be if we had the ability to do anything we want to policy-wise. And so a lot of us are weighing into that process to say, we think this should be the highest priority or this one and we’re going to narrow those priorities to what there’s a lot of consensus around. So where we’re hearing from our constituents around what issues are impacting them and particularly how we can be most helpful, I think would be huge. So for me, and I would say please reach out to us. You don’t necessarily have to say, here’s an exact policy solution because not everybody needs to know that, but you can say, here’s a concern I have, an issue I’m dealing with and I just want to let you know what it is in case it’s helpful as you’re thinking about policy or as you’re voting or making decisions on my behalf, I want you to know what my life is like and what kind of challenges and opportunities there are to be supportive of the life that I’m trying to build within our state. And letting folks know I think is really, really important. And not being afraid to send that email or make that phone call to do that outreach. I think we’ve got to hear more from folks and I really hope that we can, you know, do that in partnership with groups like The Senior Alliance and the amazing work you all are doing. I know you guys are always bringing those perspectives to us, but it’s always helpful to hear directly from constituents in addition to that.
Jason Maciejewski (20:07):
Thank you for highlighting the impact of emails and stories. We are always encouraging people to advocate with their personal accounts. I appreciate hearing that means something to you and informs your decision making process. It’s really helpful.
Jason Morgan (20:23):
Well, thank you. I read every email or at least take a quick look at every email that comes into my office and as a new legislator is told, don’t do that, it’ll be too overwhelming. And I said, okay, and tried it for a bit and I said I need to know what people are emailing us about, what’s on their minds. So I take a look at every email and then work with my staff to make sure we’re responding to them. But I love hearing from people and just hearing perspectives and what they’re facing so we can really understand those voices.
Jason Maciejewski (20:50):
State Representative Jason Morgan, and I forgot to mention you actually represent part of Oakland County too. I mentioned Washtenaw and Wayne County. You have part of Oakland County as well, don’t you?
Jason Morgan (20:59):
I sure do. You know three best counties in the state. I will say it’s really exciting having Washtenaw, Wayne and Oakland.
Jason Maciejewski (21:06):
Well, State Representative, thank you for joining us today.
Jason Morgan (21:08):
Thank you.
Jason Maciejewski (21:09):
If you have any questions about services or programs The Senior Alliance offers, you can call us at (734) 722-2830 or email us at info@thesenioralliance.org. Information about our agency or the programs and services we offer can be found on our website, thesenioralliance.org. Finally, we’re on Facebook and we can be located by searching for The Senior Alliance. I’m Jason Maciejewski. Thank you for listening to this episode of Inside The Senior Alliance.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Inside The Senior Alliance is a production of The Senior Alliance and Blazing Kiss Media.
