Legislative

Kentucky Legislation 2010

Kentucky General Assembly Legislative Toll-Free

Legislative Message Line 800-372-7181

Bill Status Line 866-840-2835

Meeting Informatin Line 800- 633-9650

Message Line en Espanol 866-840-6574

TTY Message Line 800-896-0305

LRC Website www.lrc.ky.gov

House Bill 164- UAGPPJA

GOOD NEWS!!! HB 164 PASSED and delivered to the Governor for signature !!!

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved HB 164, Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceeding Jurisdiction Act, on Thursday, March 3rd and the full Senate passed the bill on Friday March 4th! Thanks to Rep. Mary Lou Marzian for sponsoring the bill, the Alzheimer's Association for their tireless work on educating Legislators on the importance and need for the bill, and to all who took the time to contact their Legislators and encourage their support for its passage. Link to full bill text: http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/11RS/HB164.htm . Educating legislators on this bill was our top legislative priority for 2011!

Other Bills of Note for 2011 Legislative Session

HB 101/SB38 would establish a registry of persons found to have abused, neglected, or exploited an adult and prohibit licensed or certified service providers, health care facilities and programs to employ, contract or use people on the registry.
HB 52- PASSED and delivered to the Governor for signature - This bill increases penalties against those convicted of elder abuse and neglect and stops them from receiving financial gain from their victims’ estates.
HB 53 would allow residents of other states who are not related to a decedent to be appointed as a fiduciary if the appointment is done pursuant to a will of the decedent
HB 54 - PASSED- This bill will prohibit persons convicted of a felony from serving in any capacity that has authority over the victim of the offense or the victim's estate.
HB 69 would tighten up procedures for reporting and investigating deaths in nursing homes and requires training in procedures in nursing home deaths due to suspected abuse or neglect.
SB 23 would prohibit personal care agencies from employing persons listed on the nurse aide abuse registry and require annual criminal background checks and nurse aide abuse registry.

What the

Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act

will do:

The National Guardianship Association, Alzheimer's Association and other prominent organizations involved with guardianship and elder law support the enactment of this uniform law. As the summary indicates, the legislation addresses issues relating to jurisdiction, transfer and enforcement of guardianships and protective proceedings. A law of this sort works best when it is uniformly adopted in all the states.

A draft of the law (in both Word and PDF versions) and more information is available at the Uniform Law Commission's web site:
http://www.nccusl.org/Update/

Summary:
The Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act (UAGPPJA) received its final approval at the National Conference of Commissioners for Uniform State Laws’ (NCCUSL) 2007 annual meeting. The UAGPPJA deals primarily with jurisdictional, transfer and enforcement issues relating to adult guardianships and protective proceedings. To date UAGPPJA has been adopted by 20 jurisdictions. There are a number of reasons why every state should adopt the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act.
•Provides procedures to resolve interstate jurisdiction controversies. The UAGPPJA creates a process for determining which state will have jurisdiction to appoint a guardian or conservator if there is a conflict by designating that the individual’s “home state” has primary jurisdiction, followed by a state in which the individual has a “significant-connection.” Under certain prescribed circumstances, another state may be chosen if it is the more appropriate forum.
• Facilitates transfers of guardianship cases among jurisdictions. The UAGPPJA specifies a procedure for transferring a guardianship or conservatorship to another state and for accepting a transfer, helping to reduce expenses and save time while protecting persons and their property from potential abuse.
• Provides for recognition and enforcement of a guardianship or protective proceeding order. The UAGPPJA helps to facilitate enforcement of guardianship and protective orders in other states by authorizing a guardian or conservator to register these orders in other states.
• Facilitates communication and cooperation between Courts of different jurisdictions. Permits communication between courts and parties of other states, records of the communications, and jurisdiction to respond to requests for assistance from courts in other states.
• Addresses emergency situations and other special cases. A court in the state where the individual is physically present can appoint a guardian in the case of an emergency. Also, if the individual has real or tangible property located in a certain state, the court in that jurisdiction can appoint a conservator for the property located there.
• Authorizes guardians to exercise the powers authorized in the order and addresses international orders. UNIFORMITY This Act will provide uniformity and reduce conflicts among the states.

The UAGPPJA will reduce costs and save time for those who are serving as guardians and conservators (allowing them to make important decisions for their loved ones as quickly as possible), courts and lawyers. Every state should act quickly to adopt the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceeding Act.

The ABA Commission on Law and Aging has updated its Web page on Guardianship Jurisdiction at: http://new.abanet.org/aging/Pages/guardianshipjurisdiction.aspx .

The page includes:
*** Three charts UPDATED to December 2010 showing Reported Cases on Multi-state Guardianship Jurisdiction Issues, which support the need for the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act.
*** Additional resources including an article on “Nine Ways to Reduce Elder Abuse Through Enactment of the UAGPPJA,” an updated bibliography on multi-state guardianship jurisdictional issues, and links to the Act and accompanying materials at the Uniform Law Commission site at http://www.nccusl.org/Update/ActSearchResults.aspx

Another excellent resource on the Act is Alzheimer’s Association. The Association’s UAGPPJA Fact Sheet is at http://www.alz.org/national/documents/Adult_Guardianship_Factsheet.pdf . The Fact Sheet includes common scenarios in which the Act would simplify the process for resolving jurisdictional issues, save money, prevent delay and improve communication between courts. See also the Association’s updated Map on passage of the Act at http://alz.org/documents_custom/UAGPPJAMap.pdf .

FEDERAL LEGISLATION

the 112th Congress is underway and many members have new leadership roles. Have you looked to see what leadership positions your representatives have in the 112th Congress? An easy way to look up congressional leadership is www.congress.org. At this website, you will be able to enter your address and find out information on your member of Congress. Find out if your Senators or Representative is on a key committee for Guardianship Related issues including Alzheimer's and disability issues!

Key senate committees:

Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee- Led on biomedical research and Health issues

Finance Committee- Jurisdiction over Medicare issues

Appropriations Committee - determines how federal dollars will be spent in every federal agency

Key House Committees:

Energy and Commerce Committee - leads on general health care issues

Ways and Means Committee- considers revenue-related aspects of Medicare and other important social service programs

Appropriations Committee- provides funding for key research and support programs

The following Information was Provided by the Alzheimer's Association

MIND Act
While the Alzheimer's Association remains focused on the development and introduction of federal priorities for the 112th Congress, we also support other Alzheimer-related federal legislation. One such bill, the Making Investments Now for Dementia Act (MIND Act) (H.R. 610), was introduced this week by Representative Michael Burgess, MD (TX-26). The bill would create a new form of U.S. Bonds that would specifically fund Alzheimer research at the National Institutes of Health. While this is not one of our key federal priorities and no advocate action is needed at this time, the Association supports this act and its goal of increased Alzheimer research.

The following information was provided by : The Elder Justice Coalition

A National Advocacy Voice for Elder Justice in America

John B. Breaux, Honorary Chair  Robert B. Blancato, National Coordinator

The EJC shared the following information related to strategies of the Coalition for 2011:

In addition to the Elder Justice Act, the Coalition hopes to assist in the redrafting and support several other elder abuse/elder justice bills we endorsed in the last Congress:

Elder Abuse Victims Act-would provide grant funding for elder abuse prevention and assistance programs as well as training, technical assistance, and support to law enforcement officials in catching those who commit crimes of elder abuse.

National Silver Alert Act -would create a national network for locating missing seniors.

Senior Financial Empowerment Act-would requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to disseminate to seniors and their families and caregivers information on mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud targeting seniors, including on ways of referring complaints to appropriate law enforcement agencies. The legislation also calls for the creation of a website to use as a resource in preventing fraud targeting seniors.

Preventing Affinity Scams on Seniors (PASS) Act-would offer “senior protection accounts” which allow senior customers to opt-in for services that stop the processing and investigate the legitimacy of those transactions suspected to be part of affinity scams; report suspected affinity scams to the pertinent law enforcement agencies; and designate a staff person to handle affinity scams against seniors and provide training to their staff and educate their customers on affinity scams targeting senior citizens.

Another priority for 2011 includes two very important laws that are up for reauthorization—the Older Americans Act (OAA) (Title VII of the act is dedicated to enhancing elder rights and promoting elder justice) and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). We continue to monitor these bills and are working with other groups to ensure the Coalition’s suggestions on reauthorization of these laws are heard.

In order to accomplish this aggressive yet comprehensive agenda, we need the help of you—our dedicated members. We need your help with Congress and advocacy, gaining new EJC members, enhancing our national presence, donations—we need your help with everything. Last year, while donations to the EJC reached just over $18,000, the Coalition’s operating expenses were a modest $24,000. We expect 2011 to be the busiest year ever for the EJC and we need our members to help with contributions and fundraising.

IMPROVING GUARDIANSHIP IN KENTUCKY