COMMITTEE TAKES NO ACTION ON COPELAND MEASURE

JEFFERSON CITY - A modified version of legislation that would give regents at Southeast Missouri State University the authority to name the director of the SEMO Area Agency on Aging was discussed by a Missouri House committee Tuesday night.

Members of the House Social Services, Medicaid and the Elderly Committee delayed action on the proposal by Rep. Gene Copeland, D-New Madrid. The veteran lawmaker contends the measure would improve delivery of services to senior citizens in Southeast Missouri.

The committee is likely to vote on the bill when it next meets, either Thursday or Tuesday, said committee Chairman T.M. Macdonnell, D-Marshfield.

Copeland and some other area legislators have expressed concern about operations of the SEMO Area Agency on Aging.

In particular, several legislators have argued that administrative costs of running the 18-county agency are too high, that the board of directors is controlled by agency director Glenda Hood Hoffmeister, and have complained about a new formula for distributing federal nutrition funds that have reduced allocations to several nutrition centers.

The new allocation formula would cut funding over the next three years at Charleston's center by $14,000; Portageville by $8,400; and East Prairie by $2,000. All of those cities are in Copeland's district.

Copeland's bill, which is co-sponsored by House Majority Leader Bob Ward of St. Francois County, has drawn some criticism because of concerns from participants at some nutrition sites that the university is attempting to drastically change senior center operations.

But Copeland said the goal of his bill is to enable senior centers to become more than nutrition sites and to insure that administrative costs are reduced and program expenditures increased.

He contends that Hoffmeister has been spreading false information about his bill, which has confused and frightened many elderly residents of Southeast Missouri.

But because of some concerns expressed about his bill, and uncertainty over whether it would be legal to pass the authority for naming the director to the university regents, Copeland agreed to some modifications in his original bill.

Instead of requiring the Area Agency on Aging board to appoint the director recommended by the regents, the legislation now says the board may appoint a director recommended by the regents.

"At the present time, much of the money which could be used to provide food services for the elderly is being wasted in bureaucratic costs," said Copeland. "By using existing SEMO University personnel in areas such as nutrition, we could make these programs more cost effective."

Copeland pointed out that the agency is now spending $320,000 on administrative costs and $860,000 for services.

"SEMO would be able to provide the staff support so that a large number of additional activities could take place," added Copeland. "For very little expense, these facilities would become truly community activity centers."

Other provisions of Copeland's bill would require the AAA board to insure that all their recommendations comply with the federal Older Americans Act.

He argued that the new guidelines approved by the board are not consistent with the federal guidelines that call for preference to the poor, frail, and minorities.

"The way the money is being distributed now, the most affluent centers are receiving money at the expense of the impoverished districts," observed Copeland.

Last week Copeland, Ward, House Budget Chairman Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, and Rep. Marilyn Williams, D-Dudley, asked the Missouri Division of Aging to conduct a limited "Operational Management Review" of the SEMO AAA office.

The review could start next week and Copeland feels it should address a lot of the concerns people have about the agency's operations and make recommendations on how it can use funds more efficiently.

Rep. Williams said she believes the review will provide needed insight into the situation. "I feel people's eyes are open to the concerns and they are looking into it," said Williams.

"It may be that administrative costs are not out of line, but they certainly appear to be too high to me."

Marvin Proffer, a lobbyist for Southeast Missouri State University, said the university is not actively seeking a role in running the agency office. But Proffer said the university has a responsibility to serve Southeast Missouri and that he has told legislators that the university would be willing to do what it could to improve the program if that is what the General Assembly wants it to do.

Copeland added that his bill is an attempt to improve services to senior citizens and see that they are fairly treated.

"A great deal of misinformation is being spread about this bill by those who do not want to lose the power to do whatever they want with this food service money," said Copeland.

"But I want to emphasize to Southeast Missouri senior citizens that the changes I am proposing will not cut services or curtail center activities. These reforms will make it possible for more money to go to services and for all centers to be treated fairly."

Bryan Forbis, director of the Division of Aging, has noted that the SEMO AAA office ranks in the middle of the 10 AAA offices in the state in administrative costs.

The SEMO office serves 18 counties and provides support for 38 nutrition sites. There are 85,000 residents of the 18 counties who are age 60 and older.