AARP to Fight for Senior Services and Protection
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2005-11-18 12:23:23
AARP Kentucky staff and volunteers will be a forceful presence in the 2006 meeting of the General Assembly as they fight for increased funding for senior service, added protection against identity theft and expanded rights for grandparents raising their grandchildren.
Funding for Senior Services
Based on strong support from its 400,000 members and because thousands of boomers turn 60 this year, AARP is asking for a 23% increase in funding for each of the next two years.
The money is needed to expand home delivered meals, home visitations and adult daycare centers across the Commonwealth. In a 2002 survey of AARP Kentucky members, 96% said they wanted to be able to stay in their own homes and communities as they age. AARP members are urged to contact their state representatives and senators to support the budget request.
Identity Theft
AARP Kentucky supports the enactment of new sections of Kentucky Revised Statutes under a Kentucky ID Theft Protection Act that would:
- Allow consumers to place a security freeze on their credit reports to prevent a release of critical information to third parties
- Protect Social Security numbers by restricting their use by businesses
- Protect personal information records during disposal
- Require expeditious notice to consumers regarding a security breach
- Require the Kentucky State Police or local law enforcement agencies to take a complaint on identity theft and provide a copy to the victim
- Preserve existing powers, remedies and rights provided by common law or other state statues, for state agencies to enforce laws, punish crime or bring civil actions and allow the Attorney General broader venue to enforce the new laws
- Allow a person to petition the District Court to determine they are a victim of identity fraud, and expedite the expungement of criminal records for innocent identity theft victims
Grandparent Rights
In Kentucky, caregiving grandparents do not have the legal authority to arrange for basic health care or make the educational decisions required to provide for the proper nurturing of their children's offspring.
AARP Kentucky supports a new section of Kentucky Revised Statutes to require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to create a KinCare Support Program that would give grandparents the authority to consent to medical treatment for those children under age 18 left in their care.
We also support new legislation requiring the Department of Education to issue an affidavit establishing a grandparent's authority to make educational decisions for those minor children left to their care such as enrolling them in school, participating in athletic and other extracurricular activities and involvement in any discipline regarding the student.
Kentuckians can keep track of these and other legislative issues online.
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