Catherine Taylor sees AARP Rhode Island assisting where Social Security has reduced services due to a national reduction in staff that has sent people seeking answers to go online or visit an office in person.

Taylor, state director of AARP, was last Thursday’s speaker at the Warwick Rotary Club. She said that calls relating to Social Security and concerns over benefits have been “main issues” fielded by her office. During his campaign for president, Donald Trump said seniors should not pay taxes on Social Security and he would not cut Social Security or Medicare. It has been speculated that elimination of taxes on Social Security could be a component of his unannounced plan to cut taxes and, so far, there have been no cuts in Social Security or Medicare.

Meanwhile, Taylor told the Rotary Club that AARP is lobbying to have the state drop its income tax on Social Security. Rhode Island is one of eight states to tax Social Security benefits.

Bills to phase out the tax over four years have been introduced by Warwick state Sen. Mark McKenney and Rep. Mia Ackerman in the House. Senators Todd Patalano and Elaine Morgan and Rep. Charlene Lima are sponsors of legislation to eliminate the tax immediately. Taylor said more than 230,000 Rhode Islanders receive Social Security benefits,  injecting more than $4 billion into the state’s economy every year.

“Rhode Island state income tax on these benefits undermines the purpose of Social Security, which was designed to lift older adults out of poverty, not to fund state government. You paid into the system, it’s your money, not the state’s,” she said.

As an agency, Taylor said, AARP focuses on health care, long-term care and healthy living, financial security and social connections.

She said a “top priority” is ensuring Congress and the president provide financial relief to working family caregivers through the bipartisan Credit for Care Act. Noting that on average family caregivers spend more than $7,200 out of pocket on caregiving expenses and they often leave their jobs and sacrifice personal savings and their health to provide services. The act would provide non-refundable federal tax credits up to $5,000 for eligible working family caregivers with more than $7,500 in earned income.

Taylor also talked about AARP efforts to deter older-adult scams and the criminals who execute them. She said crypto ATMs have become a preferred means of stealing money. She is hopeful legislation introduced by Sen. Victoria Gu and Rep. Julie Casimiro will keep would-be victims from losing large sums of money by setting transaction limits. She gave horror stories of people losing $40,000 in two days and people losing $15,000 in a day.

And Rotary Club member Tony Bucci, who introduced Taylor, had a question for the club: what is the minimum age to become an AARP member?

Taylor had the answer: There is no minimum.