Legislative Watch: Bill to pink slip a million volunteers lurking below surface

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water, along comes Republican Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan is playing the great white shark, who wants to throw all us old folks under the bus.

As chair of the House Budget Committee, it isn't enough that he wants to do away with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and God knows what else; he is now circling around to see if he can gobble up the Corporation for National and Community Service for the 2012 budget. This is the fight we just fought so hard for in the 2011 budget and won. The fight is to keep a million volunteers from getting pink slipped.

CNCS is the federal agency that helps fund our RSVP programs that work tirelessly to keep seniors at home and out of institutions by utilizing unpaid volunteers at a fraction of the cost of institutionalization. I believe Mr. Ryan has had one cup of tea too much if he thinks this is how to balance a budget. Call him and let him know how you feel. His number is 202-225-3031. Thank you.

To move on to our 2011 Legislature, we have had some successes. Because of your support, we were able to kill Senate Bill 178, which would have required seniors to produce a birth certificate or passport in order to receive services funded by the state. At least 40 percent of our older seniors do not have birth certificates, having been born at home. It would have been a nightmare for many programs and a huge loss of help for our seniors who so desperately need these services.

Our next worrisome bill is SB421. This bill deals with the Tobacco Settlement Funds which RSVP and more than 50 other community based organizations utilize to provide services to seniors that enable them to remain at home and out of costly institutions. We will give you an update next week.

SB245, which provides a system to locate missing older persons, was amended and approved. This is a great step forward and will be evaluated at the next legislative session as to how successful it has been and if it is to be continued.

SB325 creates an inspector general function for the Department of Administration. This drew a lot of attention and was amended so much that little is left with any teeth in it. It will be interesting to see how it does in the Assembly.

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned.

• Janice Ayres is president of Nevada Senior Corps Association.