SENIOR ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL NO. 15

INTRODUCED BY SENIOR ASSEMBLY MEMBER KIM-SELBY

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AP 15:  SENIOR VOLUNTEERS.

EXISTING LAW, THE MELLO-GRANLUND OLDER CALIFORNIANS ACT, REFLECTS THE POLICY MANDATES AND DIRECTIVES OF THE FEDERAL OLDER AMERICANS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED, AND SETS FORTH THIS STATE'S COMMITMENT TO ITS OLDER POPULATION AND OTHER POPULATIONS SERVED BY THE PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF AGING.

THIS MEASURE WOULD MEMORIALIZE THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR TO ENACT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROCLAIM THE MONTH OF MAY TO BE "SENIOR VOLUNTEER MONTH" TO HONOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SENIOR VOLUNTEERS.

VOTE: MAJORITY.

AP 15: RELATING TO SENIOR VOLUNTEERS

WHEREAS, EACH MAY, AMERICANS OBSERVE OLDER AMERICANS MONTH AND CELEBRATE THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF OLDER AMERICANS.  LOCAL GOVERNMENT HAVE PROCLAIMED MAY AS THE OLDER AMERICANS MONTH; AND

WHEREAS, SENIOR VOLUNTEERS SERVE CONGREGATE AND HOME DELIVERED MEALS AND ASSISTED SENIOR CENTER ACTIVITIES, HEALTH CARE COUNSELING, LEGAL ASSISTANCE, TRANSPORTATION, AND PREVENTION OF ELDER ABUSE.  VOLUNTEER WORK IS PERFORMED FOR ALZHEIMER'S PATIENTS, GRANDCHILDREN, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, HOSPITALS, AND MANY OTHER NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS; AND

WHEREAS, A NATIONAL SURVEY IN 1999 SHOWED SENIOR CITIZENS' VOLUNTEER WORK HOURS TOTAL 5.5 BILLION HOURS A YEAR AND IS VALUED AT 71.2 BILLION DOLLARS; 45 PERCENT OF SENIORS REPORTED VOLUNTEERING IN NEIGHBORHOODS, 54 PERCENT OF SENIOR VOLUNTEERS WERE EITHER FULL- OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED, 45 PERCENT OF RETIRED SENIORS VOLUNTEER FOUR TO FIVE HOURS WEEKLY, WITH 81 PERCENT OF THOSE 75 YEARS OLD VOLUNTEERING; AND

WHEREAS, MANY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, AND SENIOR CENTERS RECOGNIZE SENIOR VOLUNTEERS ONCE A YEAR BY PROVIDING HONORARY CERTIFICATES; AND

WHEREAS, SO MANY SENIOR VOLUNTEERS ARE IN BETTER HEALTH AND LIVE LONGER DUE TO MEDICAL SCIENCE ADVANCEMENTS AND A MAJOR MOTIVATION FOR SENIOR VOLUNTEERS IS THEIR DESIRE TO GIVE BACK TO SOCIETY FINANCIALLY OR SOCIALLY; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, BY THE SENIOR ASSEMBLY AND THE SENIOR SENATE, JOINTLY, THAT THE SENIOR LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AT ITS 2004 REGULAR SESSION, A MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS VOTING THEREFOR, HEREBY PROPOSES THAT THE MONTH OF MAY BE PROCLAIMED "SENIOR VOLUNTEER MONTH" TO HONOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF SENIOR VOLUNTEERS; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED, THAT THE SENIOR LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA RESPECTFULLY MEMORIALIZES THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO ENACT APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION THAT WOULD ADDRESS THE CONCERNS SET FORTH IN THIS MEASURE; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, 

THAT A COPY OF THIS MEASURE BE TRANSMITTED TO THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE, AND THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.