BILL ANALYSIS
SJR 4
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SJR 4 (Correa)
As Amended May 20, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :32-1
AGING 5-0
--------------------------------
|Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, Hagman, |
| |Nestande, Torres, Yamada |
| | |
--------------------------------
SUMMARY : Urges the President and Congress of the United States
to establish an Alzheimer's Silver Alert Program. Specifically,
this resolution :
1)Makes various findings and declarations including:
a) At least 5.2 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's
disease;
b) Sixty percent of patients with Alzheimer's disease will
wander away from home and only 4% will be able to find
their way home without assistance;
c) Half of seniors and others with dementia who wander away
from home sustain injury if they are not found within 24
hours;
d) The senior population has been steadily growing and the
aging of the baby boomer generation will likely increase
the number of persons suffering from dementia;
e) A new type of missing persons program known as Silver
Alert has been developed and adopted by several states;
and,
f) A nationally coordinated program, similar to the Amber
Alert program for missing children could promote best
practices and spread those best practices to other states
SJR 4
Page 2
resulting in a national program incorporating the media and
law enforcement.
2)Urges the President and Congress of the United States to act
to establish a federally controlled Alzheimer's Silver Alert
Program to aid states in establishing local Silver Alert
programs.
3)Requires the Secretary of the Senate to transmit copies of the
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the California Alzheimer's Disease Data
Report developed by the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's
disease is the most common type of dementia. The disease can
affect individuals differently, but the most common symptom
pattern begins with gradual difficulty in remembering new
information. As damage spreads, individuals also experience
confusion, disorganized thinking, impaired judgment, and
disorientation to time, space, and location.
1.6 million California baby boomers can expect to develop some
form of dementia in their lifetime. 1.2 million will develop
Alzheimer's disease. While Alzheimer's disease in the overall
population will double in the next generation, the disease will
triple among Latinos/Hispanics and Asian Pacific Islanders.
About six of every 10 people living with Alzheimer's disease or
dementia will wander away from their caregivers at least once,
with only limited mental ability to explain their predicament to
strangers or find their way home. To help protect the
increasing number of individuals living with cognitive
impairments, several states, including Colorado, Florida,
Georgia, Indiana, Texas, and Virginia have adopted "Silver
Alert" programs. Silver Alert programs are modeled after the
Amber Alert system now present in all states. The Amber Alert
program can quickly distribute information about missing
SJR 4
Page 3
children to law enforcement, radio, and television stations.
Additional states are considering similar measures.
Related legislation : SB 38 (Alquist) calls for the development
of a missing senior person alert in California on or before
January 1, 2011. SB 38 is currently pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee on the Suspense File.
H.R. 632, the National Silver Alert Act of 2009, sponsored by
Representative Doggett, directs the Department of Justice to
establish a national communications network to assist efforts to
locate missing seniors and establishes a national coordinator
for the network to work with states to develop local Silver
Alert plans. H.R. 632 is currently awaiting action in the
Senate.
Analysis Prepared by : Allison Ruff / AGING & L.T.C. / (916)
319-3990
FN: 0001828