On Friday, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-AL, took part in introducing no less than three pieces of legislation – one aimed at recruiting nurses to underserved areas, another designed to establish broadband infrastructure in high-need areas and a third that was part of a legislative package aimed at helping Americans bolster their retirement savings.

In the bipartisan Nursing Where It’s Needed (WIN) Act, Jones and co-sponsor Sen. Todd Young, R-IN, aim to address the nursing shortage in underserved areas by allowing nurses at healthcare facilities facing shortages to benefit from the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program, regardless of the facility’s tax status.

“Like many places around the country, Alabama is facing a nursing shortage in rural areas of the state – and experts project this shortage will only get worse in the coming years,” said Jones, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “This legislation can make a difference by improving the incentives for nurses to work in the rural and underserved areas that need them most.”

In a press release, Jones’ office noted that the Bureau of Labor statistics found that 1.1 million nurses will be needed to avoid shortages in the future, particularly in areas having difficulty recruiting talented healthcare professionals.

The NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program was designed to incentivize nursing by allowing covering up to 60 percent of a nursing student’s unpaid education debt – the program, which initially only covered public and non-profit facilities, was expanded it 2002 to cover a variety of facilities.

In 2007, the bill reverted back to its original coverage – Jones’ legislation would again expand coverage under the program and allow for more nurses to be eligible for assistance.

The bipartisan ACCESS BROADBAND Act would required the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish an Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and streamline the process for local businesses to access federal broadband resources.

“In today’s economy, high-speech internet is no longer a luxury, but a necessity,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, in many parts of Alabama, access to reliable broadband is still too hard to come by. This bill will help ensure that federal broadband resources are well spent and directed towards the areas that need them.”

Jones also joined in introducing a legislative package that tackles the desperate need for individuals and families to better save for retirement – according to the U.S Department of Labor (USDOL), more than 40 million Americans lack access to a workplace retirement plan and nearly half of all households approaching retirement have no retirement savings plan

The portion of the package introduced by Jones assists workers in establishing short-term savings accounts to help with financial emergencies – other bills in the package take aim at expanding access to workplace retirement programs, allowing tax filers to use a portion of their refund to establish “rainy day” or long-term savings accounts and eliminating regulations that prevent small business owners from joining professionally-managed, pooled employer retirement plans.

“Today, for far too many American families, a lifetime of hard work does not translate into a comfortable retirement,” Jones said. “It’s past time that Congress address the retirement system to make it easier for workers to plan for their futures, while understanding that families today face rising costs for things like health care and education. These bipartisan bills show a commitment to making the system work better for hard-working families, ensuring they are able to adjust to today’s challenges without sacrificing economy security in their later years.”