SCR25 SD1

WHEREAS, in 1980, older adults comprised twelve per cent of the State's total population; and

WHEREAS, in 2000, the population nearly doubled, with over two hundred seven thousand older adults comprising seventeen per cent of Hawaii's total population; and

WHEREAS, this upward trend is expected to continue; and

WHEREAS, according to a May 2006 report prepared by the Executive Office on Aging, Profiles 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; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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 many state departments; and

WHEREAS, 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 to navigate for care recipients, caregivers, and families; and

WHEREAS, 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; and

WHEREAS, a departmental agency could better focus resources and personnel by directly addressing the multi-faceted needs of Hawaii's older population with top-level policy makers; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the House of Representatives concurring, that the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are requested to convene 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 fall appropriately within the jurisdiction of a new Department of Aging; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force on Aging be comprised of eight members as follows:

(1) Four members of the Senate, consisting of three members from the majority party and one member from the minority party, all of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate; and

(2) Four members of the House of Representatives, consisting of three members from the majority party and one member from the minority party, all of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force on Aging select a chairperson from its membership; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force on Aging is requested to gather input from, but not limited to:

(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 the existing 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 fall appropriately within the jurisdiction of the new Department of Aging; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force on Aging, with the assistance of the Executive Office on Aging to draft its report, is requested to submit its findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the adjournment of the Regular Session of 2009; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Hawaii State Senate, the Speaker of the Hawaii State House of Representatives, the Director of Health, the Director of Human Services, the Director of the Executive Office on Aging, and the President of the University of Hawaii.

Report Title:

Aging; Task Force

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	25
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII