Bipartisan effort underway in Lansing to tackle elder abuse

A House committee heard testimony Wednesday on a 14-bill package that targets the abuse of Michigan’s elderly. (MGN Image)

LANSING, Mich. — A House committee heard testimony Wednesday on a 14-bill package that targets the abuse of Michigan’s elderly.

The bipartisan 14-bill package calls for changes in state law to make it a crime to assault or restrain an elder adult; the language also defines an elder adult as anyone 65 years old and older.

Democratic Rep. Sarah Anthony of Lansing said she has heard stories from people in her district who have been abuse or taken advantage of, either financially, emotionally or physically. She said some people may feel ashamed of the situation, especially if the abuse is from someone they know, trust and love.

“I think what’s at state is their livelihood, their peace of mind, so if we can put in some tougher laws that actually tackle that and address it, I think that we are able to really just protect the people in our state,” Anthony said Wednesday after the House Committee on Families, Children and Seniors.

The language in the bill package would also expand a provision of state law prohibiting embezzlement from a vulnerable adult to include an elder adult.

The bill package comes after Attorney General Dana Nessel launched an elder abuse task force aimed at cracking down any abuse targeting Michigan’s seniors.

“More than 73,000 older adults in Michigan are victims of elder abuse. They experience physical abuse, financial exploitation, emotional abuse, or neglect. The symptoms and treatment of abusue against our most senior population are complex and demand a concerted effort by this state to tackle what is often unrecognized and unreported social problem,” Nessel said during the task force launch event in March. “That’s why we have brought together dozens of different organizations to work collectively and collaboratively to tackle the challenge.”

In Michigan trial courts in 2018, 9,285 petitions were filed seeking a full or limited guardianship for an adult and 7,337 were granted, according to the state Supreme Court, 1,766 of those requests were dismissed or withdrawn and 116 were denied. On Dec. 31, 2018, there were 32,137 adults with a full or limited guardian.

Anthony said when Nessel launched the task force, the legislation had already been introduced and the issue of elder abuse impacts everyone. Anthony added she envisions the legislation working in tandem with Nessel’s efforts.

“I think it’s all good work, I think at the end of the day we will all come up with some really good legislation. But these legislators came together and listened to their constituents so we want to be responsive to those constituents,” Anthony added. “This is not the first legislative session that decided to tackle the legislation and we hope it’s going to be the last.”

To report elder abuse, call 1-800-24-ABUSE or online on the elder abuse website.

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Bipartisan effort underway in Lansing to tackle elder abuse

Here's what's happening at the state Capitol this week

Minnesota lawmakers return from their spring break Monday with plenty of work to do in the remaining six weeks of the 2018 legislative session.

This week's agenda includes a House committee hearing on issues related to the troubled licensing system known as MNLARS ((Minnesota Licensing and Registration System)). It was prompted, in part, by last week's MPR News story about an investigation into the fired state worker who headed up the troubled project.

Two House committees, transportation and state government, have a joint hearing scheduled Tuesday. Lawmakers have questions about the investigation and report that they learned about last week.

The report, completed in February, provides extensive detail about the problems that started when MNLARS went online last summer and some of the key missteps that led to those problems.

The investigation was focused on Paul Meekin, and the report criticizes him for not addressing known defects prior to the system launch. But lawmakers want to know who else was involved and whether other personnel changes have been made.

House Transportation Chair Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, said he also wants to know more about the Department of Public Safety spending on a call center related to MNLARS complaints. He and other Republicans left that project out of the $10 million funding measure they passed last month. He said lawmaker want an update Tuesday on how that $10 million is being spent. There are also questions about some office remodeling at Minnesota IT Services.

Legislation related to elder abuse is also on the agenda this week.

The House Health and Human Services Finance committee takes up one of the bills Wednesday. Rep. Deb Kiel, R-Crookston, is proposing a package of changes, including tighter regulations for care providers and improvements to the reporting and investigation of abuse allegations.

Gov. Mark Dayton has his own proposal that he rolled out last month. The governor's plan will be heard by the Senate Human Services Reform committee Monday afternoon.

The Senate Education Finance committee takes up some proposals Monday related to school safety. There are several bills this session aimed at helping school district make security improvements to buildings. There is bipartisan support for doing something this session, but there are differing approaches to the funding.

Taxes remain the biggest challenge left of the session. Lawmakers want to get the state tax code lined up better with all the recent federal changes.

Dayton put out his plan for helping middle-income taxpayers. But he did not provide the same help to businesses, which is a priority for Republicans. Dayton is also pushing to repeal some of the changes made in last year's tax bill, including cuts for tobacco, business property and estates. Republicans oppose those changes.

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Here's what's happening at the state Capitol this week