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2004 SESSION

046928488
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 103
Offered January 14, 2004
Prefiled January 13, 2004
Directing the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the impact of Virginia's aging population on the demand for state agency services. Report.
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Patron-- Reid
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, the 2000 census reported there were 1,065,502 persons who were age 60 or older in Virginia, comprising 15.1 percent of the state's population, and of that number, 87,266 Virginians were age 85 and older, comprising 8.2 percent of this older population and 1.2 percent of the total population of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Virginia's older population, those age 60 and above, increased by 17.1 percent between 1990 and 2000, growing from 909,906 to 1,065,502 individuals; and the population of Virginia age 75 and older increased at an even faster rate, 36.4 percent between 1990 and 2000, growing from 263,848 to 359,877 individuals; and

WHEREAS, Virginia's older population is projected to increase at even faster rates over the next 30 years, growing to 1,540,299 (19.91 percent of the total population) by 2010; to 2,101,193 (25.49 percent) by 2020; and to 2,611,774 (25.73) by 2030; and

WHEREAS, the distribution of older Virginians varies tremendously across the State, ranging from 7.6 percent of the population in Prince William County to 23.7 percent in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, with consequent disparate economic impacts and widely varying demands for services in different localities; and

WHEREAS, the growth of the older population also is projected to vary dramatically across the Commonwealth, such that those areas with higher concentrations of "baby boomers" in 2000 relative to the existing population age 60 and above will experience significantly greater increases in the older population beginning in 2006, when the first "baby boomers" turn 60 years of age (for example, Prince William County has more than four times as many "baby boomers" as persons age 60 and older, while the Eastern Shore has almost the same number of each); and

WHEREAS, in the 2000 census, 149,726 Virginians (19.9 percent of the population age 65 and over) reported having one sensory, physical, mental, self-care, or go-outside-of home disability and 167,359 (22.2 percent of the older population) reported having two or more such disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the health risk conditions of older Virginians (age 65 and above) have increased between 1995 and 2001, for example, the percentage of those overweight grew from 39.2 to 40.5 percent and the percentage of those engaging in chronic drinking (60 or more alcoholic drinks per month) grew from 1.0 to 2.7 percent; and

WHEREAS, this growing older population, increasing dramatically in numbers as well as longevity, will experience ever greater needs of services, ranging from nursing home and assisted living arrangements to the services and supports needed for older persons to remain in their homes or in their communities and including increasingly complex and expensive health care, more frequent and intensive social services, expanded and more elaborate state facility and community geriatric mental health services, and enhanced advocacy and legal services; and

WHEREAS, for example, the Virginia Department for the Aging identified the following monthly unmet needs for services in 2002: 37,161 hours of adult day care, 129,705 home-delivered meals; 54,350 hours of homemaker services; 25,332 hours of personal care services; 507 homes in need of repairs; and 11,502 transportation trips; and

WHEREAS, state and local government workforces reflect these demographic trends, and, as a result, a growing proportion of public employees will be retiring in the next 10 years, with concomitantly increasing demands on the financial resources of the Virginia Retirement System and the state and local governments that support it; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study the impact of Virginia's aging population on the demand for state agency services. In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall consult with the Commonwealth Council on Aging, the Commissioners of the Departments of Health and Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and the Director of the Virginia Retirement System.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by the Commonwealth Council on Aging. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2004, and for the second year by November 30, 2005, and the Chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. Each executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit a document of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly. The executive summaries and the documents shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.