BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 6
Author: Beall (D), et al
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-12, 4/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elder Economic Security Standard Index
SOURCE : Insight Center for Community and Economic
Development
The Womens Foundation of California
DIGEST : This resolution memorializes the President and
Congress to ensure the economic security for all elders.
ANALYSIS :
This resolution:
1.Makes numerous findings and declarations related to
poverty and older adults, including:
A. The United States (U.S.) Department of Health and
Human Services used the Federal Poverty Guidelines
(FPG) as a benchmark to determine eligibility for
public assistance programs. In 2008, the FPG were
$10,400 for a one-person household and $14,000 for a
CONTINUED
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two-person household. In 2007, the official poverty
rate for the total U.S. population was 12.5 percent.
B. The FPG are an inadequate and antiquated
measurement tool that uses a nearly 50-year-old
methodology. The methodology is based solely on one
expense, food, and inaccurately assumes that
households today still spend one-third of their
income on food when in fact the U.S. Department of
Agriculture reports that the number is actually 10
percent of household income.
C. Despite the significant shortcomings in the
underlying data and methodology, the FPG continue to
be used to determine eligibility for 82 different
state and federal programs, and are used by state and
federal policymakers as a benchmark to determine
funding allocations to local communities and to
justify cuts to public benefits.
D. A recent study conducted by the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in collaboration with
the Insight Center for Community Economic development
found that 47 percent (1.76 million) of California's
older adults do not have enough income to adequately
cover their most basic needs, including food,
shelter, medicine, and transportation.
2.States that a more sophisticated and updated calculation
of poverty would provide a more accurate picture of the
true economic needs of elders and their families and that
the Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index)
provides such a measure.
3.Specifies that the Elder Index serves as the guiding tool
for broad-based planning, evaluation, research, advocacy,
and outreach at the national, state, and local levels,
and that a more accurate calculation of the poverty rate
among elders will result in a more targeted distribution
of federal funding to states to support elders, more
effective programs, and strategic planning.
4.Memorializes the President and congress to help ensure
economic security for all elders and that they do all of
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the following:
A. Ensure that federal policies and programs enable
all elders and their families to meet their basic
needs.
B. Use the nationally recognized Elder Index to
modernize all federal poverty measures and guidelines
impacting elders, and by doing so, develop a more
accurate measure of economic need among elders in the
U.S.
C. Use the Elder Index to recalculate the number and
demographic profile of elders whose basic needs are
not being met.
D. Use the Elder Index to evaluate the impact of
public support and any current or new federal
initiatives to help elders age in place.
Comments
California currently has more than three million people
over the age of 65, and the number is expected to double to
more than 6.5 million by 2020. Recent research from the
University of California, Los Angeles and the Insight
Center for Community Economic Development has shown that
495,000 older Californians living along in 2007 could not
make ends meet - lacking sufficient income to pay for even
a minimum level of housing, food, health care,
transportation and other basic expenses.
Proponents argue that policymakers struggle to create
effective policies to promote economic security and
eradicate poverty because they do not have an accurate
picture of what it really takes to make ends meet in
today's economy. Policymakers typically measure poverty
and determine benefits eligibility by using the Federal
Poverty Line (FPL), a 1963 measure based solely on the cost
of a bare-bones food diet. Although the FPL is updated
annually using the Consumer Price Index, the 2008 FPL is
the same dollar amount ($10,400 for an individual living
along) whether one lives in a high cost market like urban
Los Angeles, or a low cost region like rural Arkansas.
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This resolution memorializes the President and Congress to
ensure the economic security for all elders.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/19/09)
Insight Center for Community and Economic Development
(co-source)
The Women's Foundation of California (co-source)
California Association of Area Agencies on Aging
California Senior Legislature
California Welfare Directors Association
Catholic Charities of California
Family Caregiver Alliance
Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles
National Association of Social Workers California Chapter
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Block, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nestande, John A. Perez, V.
Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Tom Berryhill, Conway, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Harkey, Jeffries, Logue, Miller, Niello, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Adams, Blakeslee, Cook, Davis, Duvall,
Emmerson, Fletcher, Hall, Knight, Lieu, Ma, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
CTW:cm 6/24/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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