HR249

WHEREAS, in 1980, older adults comprised twelve per cent of the State's total population and 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, according to a May 2006 report prepared by the Executive Office on Aging, by the year 2020, persons aged sixty and older will constitute nearly one-third, or thirty per cent, of Hawaii's adult population; and

WHEREAS, 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 various 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 for care recipients, caregivers, and families to navigate; 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 action at the department level where resources and personnel can be more efficiently allocated and top-level policymakers can focus directly on the multi-faceted needs of Hawaii's older population; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that the Department of Health is requested to establish a Task Force on Aging to examine the need for and feasibility of, and to prepare preliminary plans for, the consolidation of publicly funded programs and services that would appropriately fall within the jurisdiction of a new Department of Aging; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to include the following as members of the Task Force on Aging:

(1) Two members of the Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate;

(2) Two members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(3) The Director of Health or a designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(4) The Director of Human Services or a designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(5) The Director of Transportation or a designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(6) The Director of Finance or a designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(7) The Attorney General or a designee, as an ex-officio, non-voting member;

(8) One representative from the City and County of Honolulu Elderly Care Division;

(9) One representative from the Hawaii County Office of Aging;

(10) One representative from the Maui County Office on Aging;

(11) One representative from the Kauai Agency on Elder Affairs;

(12) One representative from the Policy Advisory Board for Elderly Affairs;

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

(14) One representative from the Hawaii Caregiver Coalition;

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

(16) One representative from the Kokua Council; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force on Aging is requested to gather input from:

(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 respective jurisdictions, that would appropriately fall 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; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force on Aging is requested to submit its findings and recommendations, including necessary proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009. The Executive Office on Aging is requested to assist the Task Force on Aging in preparing the report; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Directors of Health, Human Services, Human Resources Management, Transportation, and Finance, the Comptroller, Attorney General, the Mayors of the respective counties, the Chairperson of the Policy Advisory Board for Elderly Affairs, and the Director of the Executive Office on Aging who, in turn, is requested to transmit copies to CARE Hawaii, Inc., Hawaii Caregiver Coalition, Hawaii Alliance of Retired Americans, the Hawaii Aging Advocates Coalition, American Association of Retired Persons Hawaii, and the Kokua Council.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

DOH Establish Task Force on Aging; Study New Department of Aging

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	249
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII