COUNTIES MAY GET OPTION TO FORM AGING AGENCIES

JEFFERSON CITY -- State Sen. Jerry Howard says he'll push hard for final passage of a bill that would give four Bootheel counties the option of forming a new area agency on aging.

And, if State Rep. Gene Copeland, D-New Madrid, has his way, Howard's bill will be amended in the House to add Scott and Mississippi counties to the four Bootheel counties.

"If it gets to the House, I strongly predict those counties would be in," said Copeland, who represents Mississippi County and a part of Scott County.

Howard's bill has already passed the Senate and would allow New Madrid, Pemiscot, Dunklin and Stoddard counties to pull away from the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging, which is headquartered in Cape Girardeau and serves 18 counties.

The bill is stalled in the House Social Services, Medicaid and the Elderly Committee. So on Tuesday, Howard, D-Dexter, offered the bill as an amendment to HB-1335 on the Senate floor, which deals with stronger nursing home regulations.

Howard and Copeland have been critical of how money has been distributed to some of the 38 nutrition sites in the 18 counties, and how the SEMO Area Agency on Aging has operated. Both believe having a Bootheel agency will allow senior citizens in that area to be better served.

"I have heard complaints for years about the office in Cape," said Howard. "People of the Bootheel have tried to work through the Cape office. ... Those efforts have fallen on deaf ears by the area agency. I am determined to pass a bill to allow the Bootheel to create its own area agency."

Originally when the bill was debated in the Senate, Howard had Scott and Mississippi counties included on the list to form a new agency.

But Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, who represents the two counties, opposed giving them the authority to have their own agency. He was successful in having them taken out of the bill.

"I opposed the bill, and if it comes back, I will vote no again," said Kinder.

Howard explained that his bill does not require the counties to form their own agency, but it does give them the authority to do so.

Said Howard: "My bill would give people in the Bootheel keys to a better car, but they have to start it and drive it themselves. My bill would only give them the opportunity they need to start a new planning and service area to create a Bootheel area agency on aging. That cannot happen unless the people choose to do it themselves. I am just giving them the tools they need for the job."

Rep. Marilyn Williams, D-Dudley, supports Howard's bill, but is opposed to including Scott County on the list of counties that could form their own agency. Williams said the nutrition center in Chaffee is satisfied with the SEMO office, but that Stoddard County centers in Puxico and Dexter are not happy.

Williams said she has been working with Don Howard, director of the Missouri Division of Aging, to deal with the problems for the time being. Ultimately, Williams believes a Bootheel agency is the answer.

"I am being convinced more and more that is the direction we need to go. We just have too many conflicts between the Cape area and the Bootheel," said Williams.

Copeland and Williams both agree the bill may have difficulty getting out of committee in the House this year.

"I'm with Jerry on this one. We are not getting our fair share of money under the Older Americans Act," said Copeland. "The southern region has been short-changed. Starting our own area would not have been my first choice, but it looks like the only choice."

Copeland and Williams believe one reason the bill is stalled in a House committee is that employees of the SEMO Area Agency on Aging are providing misleading information to seniors who use nutrition centers and those people are calling lawmakers.

"I got some calls from site directors who said they got calls from employees of the Cape office," said Williams. "There is a lot of false information about this diverting funds from other areas."

Howard was also critical of what he claimed were inaccurate rumors from the Cape Girardeau office.

"Those people should be ashamed of themselves," said Howard. "That a few people in the Cape Girardeau area office in high-paying jobs would provoke fear in our people is sickening. It only makes me more determined to empower the people in the Bootheel."

Howard's bill would also require the states's area agencies on aging to provide a detailed, annual performance report. The detailed report would have to account for all funds available to the agency from federal, state and private sources.

Agencies would send the report to the governor, speaker of the House, president of the Senate and the director of the Missouri Division of Aging.

The bill would also require audits of the agencies every other year unless the agency is already audited by the federal government under the Older Americans Act of 1965.