BILL ANALYSIS �
AJR 29
Page 1
Date of Hearing: February 18, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGING AND LONG-TERM CARE
Mariko Yamada, Chair
AJR 29 (Brown) - As Introduced: August 5, 2013
SUBJECT : Senior Nutritional Services and Programs: funding.
SUMMARY : Urges the Congress of the United States (Congress) to
restore federal funding cuts, due to sequestration, to senior
nutrition programs, and to declare senior nutrition services and
programs exempt from further budget cuts. Specifically, this
resolution makes the following legislative findings and
declarations:
1)In 2011, the one-hundred and twelfth Congress adopted and the
President signed, the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-25;
the Act), as both a compromise and an incentive to address
federal budgetary principles.
2)The Act included provisions to either adopt a 10-year deficit
reduction plan, or face automatic, across-the-board reductions
in mandatory and discretionary funding in the amount of $1.2
trillion during the period between 2013 and 2021, inclusive.
3)The automated sequester cuts were then delayed two months by
the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which had the effect
of amplifying initial cuts during the first fiscal year of the
reduction, by delaying the implementation by two months, from
January 1, 2013, to March 1, 2013.
4)That every federal program is cut equally under sequester,
including programs authorized by the Older Americans act of
1965 (OAA) and administered by the Administration for
Community Living which also oversees elder abuse prevention,
caregiver support, and other supports for low-income seniors
struggling with isolation due to poverty and/or disability.
5)That congregate nutrition programs provide important links to
other in-home and community-based services including
transportation, health and wellness, education, counseling,
and assessments.
6)That home-delivered meals provide nutrition for home-bound
individuals, as well as volunteers to check-up on homebound
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elders and other, younger, functionally challenged adults in
order to decrease feelings of isolation.
7)That nutrition programs enhances the ability for eligible
individuals to remain independent and in their own homes
longer, thus preventing or delaying costly
institutionalization.
8)That older adults are far less likely to obtain employment to
compensate for lost nutrition benefits, which forces families
to back-fill with resources intended to support children, thus
jeopardizing entire families' well-being.
9)That funding reduction threatens loss of necessary equipment,
as well as fragile networks created through local innovations
developed by local governments, community-based organizations,
and faith-based entities.
10)That California will suffer a $6.6 million loss to nutrition
programs during federal fiscal year 2013-14, and a loss of
approximately $5.1 million during each federal fiscal year
thereafter until the end of federal fiscal year 2021-22.
11)That the Legislature memorializes the President and Congress
to restore nutrition program funding, similar to the way
funding was restored for small airport air-traffic controller
services.
12)That nutrition program funding be exempt from any further
cuts due to the disproportionate growth of the aging
population and the corresponding disproportionate impact upon
the senior population.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
BACKGROUND : Title III of the Older Americans Act (OAA) of 1965
provides for the Nutrition Program to reduce hunger and food
insecurity, promote socialization of older individuals, to
promote the health and well-being of older individuals and to
delay adverse health conditions through access to nutrition and
other disease prevention and health promotion services. The OAA
authorizes and provides appropriations to the Administration on
Aging (AoA) for three different nutrition programs under Title
III of the act: Congregate Nutrition Services (Title III C1),
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Home-Delivered Nutrition Services (Title III C2), Nutrition
Services Incentive Program (NSIP).
Congregate Nutrition Services, established in 1972 and
Home-Delivered Nutrition Services, established in 1978; provide
meals and related nutrition services to older individuals in a
variety of settings including congregate facilities where meals
are provided in group settings such as senior centers; or by
home-delivery to older individuals who are homebound due to
illness, disability, or geographic isolation. Services are
targeted to those in greatest social and economic need with
particular attention to those at risk of isolation, such as low
income individuals, those in rural communities, those with
limited English proficiency, and those at risk of institutional
care. Nutrition Services Programs help older individuals to
remain independent and in their communities.
Grants for Congregate Nutrition Services and Home-Delivered
Nutrition Services are allocated to states and territories by a
formula based on their share of the total U.S. population aged
60 and over. Nutrition Services Incentive Program grants are
allocated to states, territories, and eligible Indian Tribal
Organizations. These grants are in addition to congregate and
home-delivered meals and may only be used for food.
According to the California Department of Aging (CDA), the state
agency overseeing nutrition program services, nutrition programs
improve participants' dietary intakes and to offer opportunities
to form new friendships and create informal support networks.
Since adequate nutrition is critical to health, functioning, and
the quality of life, the program is an important component of
home and community-based services for older people. Meals
incorporate dietary guidelines which focus on food and beverages
that help achieve and maintain healthy weight, promote health,
and prevent disease. Meals are provided through networks
developed locally by the state's 33 Area Agencies on Aging (AAA)
with community-based organizations.
In the 2011-12 fiscal year, the CDA and its 33 partner AAAs
served or delivered 7,538,224 congregate meals, and 10,437,410
home delivered meals. Average home delivered meals run
approximately $3.24, while congregate meals run approximately
$4.86 per meal.
According to a report prepared by the National Foundation to End
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Senior Hunger called "The State of Senior Hunger in America
2011," on average, 15.2% of seniors in the U.S. are at risk of
hunger, or "food insecure." This equates to about 8.8 million
individuals. The report reveals that in California, 17.2% of
elders face hunger. African American and Hispanic elders
experience hunger at about twice the rate of whites (31.2% & 32%
v. 13.3 %). Having a grandchild present in the home more than
doubles the risk of food insecurity (34.91%).
SEQUESTER : "Sequestration" is a process of automatic, largely
across-the-board federal spending reductions to meet or enforce
certain budget policy goals. It was first established by the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985
(BBEDCA, Title II of P.L. 99-177, 2 U.S.C. 900-922) to enforce
deficit targets. In the 1990s, sequestration was used to enforce
statutory limits on discretionary spending and a pay-as-you-go
(PAYGO) requirement on direct spending and revenue legislation.
After effectively expiring in 2002, sequestration was
reestablished by the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (P.L.
111-139) to enforce a modified PAYGO requirement on direct
spending and revenue legislation. Most recently, under the
Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25), sequestration was
tied to enforcement of new statutory limits on discretionary
spending and achievement of the budget goal established for the
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the
"Super Committee." A sequestration was triggered by the Joint
Committee's failure to achieve its goal and was originally
scheduled to occur on January 2, 2013, to affect spending for
FY2013. Congress enacted legislation that delayed the effective
date of this sequester until March 1, 2013 (American Taxpayer
Relief Act of 2012, P.L. 112-240). Social Security, Medicare,
Tier 1 Railroad Retirement and VA services were exempt from the
sequestered cuts. Sequestration enforces budget reductions that
are indiscriminate, rather than the usual deliberative approach
that includes the input of stake-holders, experts and the
American people.
After sequester cuts began to go into effect in 2013, Congress
acted to head-off public outcry over cuts to popular programs.
Citing significant concerns about long lines at airports and
flight delays caused by the potential of furloughed air-traffic
controllers, Congress let the Federal Aviation Administration
override strict sequestration rules and redirect funds within
its budget to assure adequate staffing, especially at small
airports, thereby assuring uninterrupted flight management for
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non-commercial aviators.
SEQUESTER OF NUTRITION PROGRAMS : According to CDA, sequester
cuts have the effect to reducing congregate meals by 8.1% and
home delivered meals by 4.3%, or, $6.6 million (about 1,629,630
fewer meals being served or delivered). In an effort to avoid
the severity of the reduced federal funds, The California State
Assembly entered in to an inter-agency agreement with the
California Department of Aging in to provide $2.7 million from
the Assembly's operations account, reducing the impact by about
30%. Thus, the net reduction to nutrition program funding was
less than $4 million for FFY 2013.
The federal Omnibus Budget for FFY 2014 restores all nutrition
cuts, effective retroactively to October 1, 2013. At the time
of this analysis, CDA did not have the data necessary to
determine if sequester cuts during the FFY 2013 resulted in
barriers to accessing nutrition services, though the CDA
acknowledges that local resources have been raised to address
local backfill needs. However, testimony at a recent Senate
Human Services Committee hearing on senior nutrition programs
revealed many nutrition programs and distribution networks are
stressed by the one-year reductions.
AUTHORS STATEMENT : "The sequestration of funds for senior
nutrition programs comes at a time when our senior and elderly
populations are growing. These cuts have many consequences as
senior nutrition programs, throughout California, are being
reduced or eliminated. Foremost, the health and medical needs
of seniors can become compromised when there is not enough food
to eat. In 2012, 2.8 million (8.8%) households with seniors
experienced food insecurity. That same year, 1.1 million (9.1%)
households composed of seniors living alone experience food
insecurity. A study which examined the health and nutritional
status of seniors found that food insecure seniors had
significantly lower intakes of vital nutrients in their diets
when compared to their food secure counterparts. In addition,
food insecure seniors were more likely to report a fair or poor
health status and had higher nutritional risk, which is
associated with a range of chronic illnesses, including
hypertension and an increased risk of developing diabetes.
Restoring the federal funding cuts and exempting further cuts
from senior nutrition programs will facilitate the ability for
seniors to remain independent, avoid institutionalization and
maintain a healthier life."
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According to the Author, "(F)ood is critical to health,
functioning, and the quality of life.
AJR 29 would memorialize Congress and President to restore
federal funding cuts to senior nutrition programs and to spare
senior nutrition programs from further cuts and prevent
thousands of seniors from malnutrition. AJR 29 highlights the
important role of nutrition programs in the lives elderly and
homebound individuals who depend on meal delivery. Home
delivered services allow volunteers and paid staff the
opportunity to check on the welfare of fragile recipients, and
to report any health or other problems they may notice during
their visits. Home Delivered Meals, Congregate Nutrition and
Nutrition Services Incentive programs for the elderly and
homebound eligible individuals can facilitate their ability to
remain independent, avoid institutionalization and maintain
healthier remaining years of life."
SUPPORT : Supporters argue that the real damage is not just in
the reduction of meals being served, but in the damage that
fewer resources will have upon the fragile networks of
distribution which often operate on shoe-string budgets and with
narrow margins.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Area Agencies on Aging (C4A)
Senior Assemblymember Gerald Richards (Hercules)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Robert MacLaughlin / AGING & L.T.C. /
(916) 319-3990