SB2152 SD1

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that in 1980, older adults comprised twelve per cent of the State's total population. In 2000, the population nearly doubled, with over two hundred and seven thousand older adults comprising seventeen per cent of Hawaii's total population. This growth trend is expected to continue. According to a May 2006 report prepared by the executive office on aging, Profile of Hawaii's Older Adults and Their Caregivers, by the year 2020, persons age sixty and older will constitute nearly one-third, or thirty per cent, of Hawaii's adult population. Moreover, the number of persons who are eighty-five years of age and older is projected to continue to increase dramatically, from 5,561 in 1980 to 33,800 in 2020.

The legislature further finds that the array of publicly-funded programs and services that serve the older population in the areas of health care, disability services, insurance, long-term care, caregiver support, medicaid, medicare, and institutional and community-based adult care, for example, are scattered among state departments. These programs and services help to meet the multi-faceted needs of older adults and are provided by various county, state, federal, private, and not-for-profit entities but can be challenging for care recipients, caregivers, and families to navigate. As a central agency, the executive office on aging currently coordinates some of the programs and services available to Hawaii's older population; however, the scope and magnitude of overlapping issues facing the elderly may necessitate department-level attention. A departmental agency could better focus resources and personnel by directly addressing with top-level policy makers the multi-faceted needs of Hawaii's older population.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a task force on aging to study the need for, feasibility of, and preliminary plans for the consolidation of publicly-funded programs and services that would appropriately fall within the jurisdiction of a new department of aging.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a task force on aging, which shall be responsible for determining the need for and feasibility of establishing a department of aging.

(b) The task force on aging shall be comprised of nineteen members as follows:

(1) Two members of the senate who shall be appointed by the president of the senate;

(2) Two members of the house of representatives who shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(3) The director of health or the director's designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(4) The director of human services or the director's designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(5) The director of transportation or the director's designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(6) The director of finance or the director's designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(7) The attorney general or the attorney general's designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(8) One representative from the executive office on aging;

(9) One representative from the city and county of Honolulu elderly care division;

(10) One representative from the Hawaii county office of aging;

(11) One representative from the Maui county office on aging;

(12) One representative from the Kauai agency on elder affairs;

(13) One representative from the policy advisory board for elderly affairs;

(14) One representative from CARE Hawaii, Inc.;

(15) One representative from the Hawaii Caregiver Coalition;

(16) One representative from the Hawaii Alliance of Retired Americans; and

(17) One representative from the Kokua Council.

The task force on aging shall select a chairperson from its membership.

(1) The department of health, the department of human services, the department of transportation, the University of Hawaii, and the executive office on aging, regarding specific programs and services, to be identified by their current State of Hawaii program structure identification numbers, currently within their jurisdiction, which would fall appropriately within the jurisdiction of the new department of aging;

(2) The department of budget and finance, the department of human resources development, the department of the attorney general, and the department of accounting and general services, regarding the budget, personnel, legal, and administrative impacts of shifting programs from the specified departments to the new department of aging; and

(3) The policy advisory board for elderly affairs, the Hawaii Alliance of Retired Americans, the Kokua Council, the Hawaii Aging Advocates Coalition, AARP Hawaii, the Hawaii Caregiver Coalition, the city and county of Honolulu elderly care division, the Hawaii county office of aging, the Maui county office on aging, the Kauai agency on elder affairs, and other elderly, disability, business, and faith based organizations and advocates regarding the need for a specific department of aging and the programs and services that would appropriately fall within the jurisdiction of the new department of aging.

(d) The task force on aging shall submit its findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010. The executive office on aging shall assist the task force on aging in preparing the report.

(e) The task force on aging shall cease to exist on June 30, 2010.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 for the task force on aging established pursuant to section 2 of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the executive office on aging for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2152
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII