AARP is seeking nominations for its 2008 AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, which honors those individuals who are sharing their experience, talent, and skills to enrich the lives of their community members. 

“Volunteerism is clearly a new way of looking at retirement for older Americans. Many are finding that they want to remain active and involved and that volunteerism fulfills this need and the desire to help others,” said Leni Healy, AARP South Dakota Associate State Director for Outreach and Service.  “Through this recognition, AARP encourages members and prospective members to use their skills and assistance as a way to remain vital as well as make a difference in their community.”

The screening of nominees will be performed by AARP South Dakota and involves a range of criteria, including positive impact on the lives of individuals age 50 and over, improvement of the community in or for which the work was performed, and inspiration of others to volunteer. 

AARP Andrus Award for Community Service nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Nominees must be current AARP volunteers or AARP members; or must have been AARP volunteers or members during 2007.
• The accomplishments, achievements or service on which the nomination is based must include the year 2007, but it need not be exclusive to 2007.
• Couples or partners who perform service together are also eligible, however teams are not eligible.
• The accomplishments, achievements, or service on which the nomination is based must have been performed on a volunteer basis, without pay.  
• The accomplishments, achievements or service on which the nomination is based must reflect AARP’s priority issues of Health, Livable Communities and/or Economic Security.

Please contact Leni Healy, at 605-362-3044 or email clhealy@aarp.org for further information and a nomination form.  The application deadline is June 2, 2008.

The AARP Andrus Award for Community Service is an annual awards program developed to honor individuals whose service is a unique and valuable contribution to society.  Last year, AARP recognized 53 outstanding individuals from around the country.

Join us on May 8, 2008 for AARP's Eighth Annual Day of Service. On this day, we hope you'll join thousands of people around the country to make a difference in local communities.

Once a year, on the second Thursday in May, thousands of AARP employees, volunteers, and members make time to serve their community. Last year, more than 33,000 people participated, including more than 400 in South Dakota! This year, we want you to join us.

“AARP volunteers give back to their communities day after day, throughout the year,” says AARP South Dakota Interim State Director Sam Wilson.  “On our Day of Service, volunteers across the state, as well as the state office staff join together in putting aside regular duties to emphasize AARP’s long-standing commitment and dedication to serving others.”

This year, as service to the community of Sioux Falls, the AARP state office will sponsor a “Spring Cleaning/Shred It” event May 8, from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Arena parking lot. It’s a FREE, confidential document destruction service.  Dakota Data Shred will collect and shred documents and papers containing personal information, providing residents an easy, safe and secure way to protect their identity.  Results Radio of Sioux Falls has graciously offered to assist in promoting this event.

In communities across South Dakota, AARP volunteers will be participating in a variety of service projects, from supporting local law enforcement and fire personnel, volunteering at museums and local charities, and providing unique educational experiences for school children.

If you’d like to participate in the 2008 AARP Day of Service let us know about your planned activities by contacting Leni Healy, Associate State Director of Outreach and Service at 605-362-3044, or by e-mail to clhealy@aarp.org.   Following Day of Service, send your photos and details of your project to Cathy McLeer, cmcleer@aarp.org, and we’ll post them on the South Dakota Community page of aarp.org.

An AARP Driver Safety Class will be offered in Springfield, South Dakota Tuesday, April 22 and Wednesday, April 23 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. Classes will be held at St. Vincent's Church, 1203 Wood Street in Springfield.  The classroom is handicapped accessible.

To sign up for the class call 605-369-2825.

The class is nationally endorsed and improves driving skills for people 50 and older.   The cost is $10.  Attendees are encouraged to check with their insurance company to determine whether completion of the class is a qualification for a premium discount on auto insurance. 

• Provide opportunities for citizen input and make recommendations to the IRS on customer service issues;
• Identify and prioritize taxpayer issues; 
• Report annually to the Treasury Dept., the IRS and the National Taxpayer Advocate;
• Participate in meetings where taxpayers are invited to raise issues about their experiences with the IRS; and
• Participate in taxpayer outreach opportunities by speaking to individuals and groups about the panel.

Week Six

AARP South Dakota State Legislative Update
Week Five
Sam Wilson, Associate State Director--Advocacy

Week Five is in the books and things are really heating up.  Crossover Day, the point at which all bills must have had final action in their house of origin, is coming up on Wednesday next week and as usual, some of the most contentious issues are being held onto until next week.  The Senate is well positioned to meet this deadline but the House is going to have to either burn the midnight oil and have some 6AM committee meetings to get their work done.  Some committees are obviously more busy than others at this stage but look for a lot of fireworks this week as crunch-time puts the pressure on legislators.

We will have added a couple of bills to our list this week that previously were excluded as we've been putting our emphasis on other areas.  However, several bills that we had been following up until this point have now either been signed by the Governor or killed so we've got some new focal points for the remaining weeks.  As a reminder, any bill that has **ALERT** next to it means that we are asking you to contact you legislator immediately and share AARP’s position with them.  We will rarely have more than two **ALERT** bills at any one time, which will make it easier to know exactly which bills need your immediate attention

Consumer Protection

**ALERT** SB35- Consumer Protections on Auto Insurance Claims
(Press the ctrl button and click this link 2008 Session simultaneously to access the 2008 South Dakota Legislature.  Type in bill number for bill text and history.)
 --AARP strongly supports this legislation that provides South Dakotans clear   protections when filing auto insurance claims.  The following protections are    proposed by the law and do not currently exist: 
 o No unreasonable travel can be required by insurance company to fix vehicle
 o Insurance claims must be responded to in a reasonable time period by the insurance company
 o  Market value of a vehicle claim must be determined using fair standards established in this bill.
 o All replacement parts must be of like kind and quality.
While many of these protections seem obvious, South Dakota has some the weakest consumer protection laws around auto insurance claims not only in our region but across the entire country.  This measured approach strikes a good balance between protecting consumers and keeping unnecessary regulations in check.  This bill has passed the Senate 26-9. No House committee action has been scheduled yet. 

Health and Long Term Care

SB182- An act to expand the disclosure of inpatient hospital charges
--Hospitals shall report to the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations the average cost, median cost, payment mix, and other factors that are derived from all procedures for which that hospital had 10 or more cases in the previous 12 months.
--This information shall be shared publicly through a web-based system to be rolled-out to the public by July 1, 2010.
--AARP is supportive of this bill.

HB1310- An act to authorize construction of nursing facilities on American Indian reservations
--This bill would authorize the Pine Ridge Reservation to build a nursing home without being subject to the nursing home moratorium that is set in place to "right size" long-term care in South Dakota.
--AARP has not taken a position on this bill.  However, there is some concern that no consideration was given by the bill sponsors as to creating a more balanced long-term care proposal that includes alternative care environments such as assisted living, congregate housing, and home and community-based services.  A pilot project was authorized several years ago by the South Dakota Legislature on the Cheyenne River Reservation to attempt a similar initiative but that has yet to be completed and operable.

Taxation

HB1276-Provides for the Elderly and Disabled Tax Credit
--This bill authorizes $800,000 for a property and sales tax refund to the lowest income elderly and disabled citizens in South Dakota.
--The bill also raises the income limits for receiving the income by $250 to reflect rising inflation since the last income adjustment was made.
--AARP strongly supports this appropriation as it targets tax relief to our state's most vulnerable citizens.  The current income guidelines are less than the federal poverty guidelines, which indicates severe financial need.

Governor's Signature

--All of these bills have been signed by the Governor or are at his desk after passing both Houses of the Legislature.

SDRS

HB1019- Provides for benefit formulary increases
--Increase to 1.7% of Final Average Compensation  (cost to system $351 million)
HB1020- Creates Supplemental Retirement Plan
--Allows for conversion of SRP or Special Pay Plan dollars to guaranteed lifetime benefits
HB1021- Allows units to auto-enroll employees into Supplemental Retirement Plan
--In order to increase personal savings in system, auto-enrollment will increase participation for those units and employees that voluntarily choose to participate.
HB1022- Revises appeals process for SDRS beneficiaries
--Provides for eliminating Board of Trustees from appeals process and inserting the SDRS administrator and professional hearing examiner. 
HB1023- Technical fixes bill
--General Counsel Wade Hubbard frequently peruses statute to ensure uniformity.  These are technical fixes that accomplish that goal.
HB1024- Revises definition of child for benefits purposes
--Expand SDRS definition to whenever the child graduates from high school or is 19 years of age.
HB1025- Provides special exception for Mitchell firefighters brought into system in 1996
--Clarifies that these beneficiaries will receive 3.1% annual compounded COLA just like all other beneficiaries in the system.

Consumer Protection

HB1059- Eliminating restrictions on Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Complaints
--Currently, the Office of Consumer Complaints is limited to 4 full-time equivalents (FTEs).  This bill would eliminate this limitation so that the Attorney General can adequately staff this office to meet the growing need for more staff to investigate consumer complaints. 

HB1060- Revising statute of limitations on filing actions against deceptive practices
--Currently, the statute of limitations for the Attorney General to file action in a deceptive practices case is two years from discovery.  This would raise that time period to four years from discovery, which will assist in allowing the state to join in multi-state actions that sometimes require more time than currently allowed in statute. 

The Circular File

The following bills were being followed by AARP and have met their demise:

HB1066- Revising definition of unfair and deceptive practices
--Sent to 36th Day (kills the bill) 11-2.
HB1297- Payday Lending
--This bill was defeated in committee 12-2.
SB33- An act to require hospitals to report certain adverse health care events
--This bill was tabled in lieu of SB182, which was an alternate bill proposed.  AARP is supportive of greater transparency in both cost and quality measures and we will be following this bill closely during session.

As we communicated last week, many communities are holding legislative coffees or “cracker barrels” on the weekends where legislators make themselves available for questions from their constituents on legislative issues.  I would encourage all of you attend these events as they are a valuable source of information, particularly on our legislative priorities.  If you do attend one of these events and some of AARP’s priority issues are discussed, I would invite you to share those comments with me at swilson@aarp.org so that I know what legislators are talking about back in their home communities.  

Again, thank you to all of you for your efforts and contributions to our advocacy efforts. 

AARP Welcomes Senate’s Inclusion of Older Americans in Economic Stimulus Package

• Currently, the Office of Consumer Complaints is limited to 4 full-time equivalents (FTEs). This bill would eliminate this limitation so that the Attorney General can adequately staff this office to meet the growing need for more staff to investigate consumer complaints. AARP strongly supports. Passed House Judiciary 13-0. Passed the House 69-1.

• Currently, the statute of limitations for the Attorney General to file action in a deceptive practices case is two years from discovery. This would raise that time period to four years from discovery, which will assist in allowing the state to join in multi-state actions that sometimes require more time than currently allowed in statute. AARP strongly supports. Passed House Judiciary 8-5. Passed the House 64-6.

• Increase to 1.7% of Final Average Compensation (cost to system $351 million)

• Allows for conversion of SRP or Special Pay Plan dollars to guaranteed lifetime benefits

• In order to increase personal savings in system, auto-enrollment will increase participation for those units and employees that voluntarily choose to participate.

• Provides for eliminating Board of Trustees from appeals process and inserting the SDRS administrator and professional hearing examiner. Circuit court appeals process still applies if initial appeal is unsatisfactory to beneficiary.

• General Counsel Wade Hubbard frequently peruses statute to ensure uniformity. These are technical fixes that accomplish that goal.

• Expand SDRS definition to whenever the child graduates from high school or is 19 years of age.
• Adopts Uniform Probate Code definition of child for purposes of family benefit payments.

• Clarifies that these beneficiaries will receive 3.1% annual compounded COLA just like all other beneficiaries in the system.

• The following instances would be included in reporting:    (1)    The list of adverse health events required to be reported, including hospital-acquired infection events and surgical events; (2)    The method and reporting requirements for a hospital to report an adverse health event; and (3)    The format for making a report of an adverse health event available to the public. Each report of an adverse health event shall identify the hospital but may not include any identifying information for any health care professional, hospital employee, or patient involved.
• There are several discussions going on considering this bill and we except several changes to be made during the committee process. AARP is supportive of greater transparency in both cost and quality measures and we will be following this bill closely during session.