Selling tobacco funds would sell Nevada's seniors short

Last Wednesday, the governor called a press conference to announce his supplemental budget recommendations. I was stunned to see that his proposal covers the shortfall by selling bonds or obtaining a loan secured in part by the annual receipts from the Tobacco Settlement Fund.

These funds have been supporting programs that kept our low-income, frail elderly at home and out of costly institutions for eight years, as well as providing the Millennium Scholarships for kids with good grades.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, the original proponent of this ill-conceived idea, has watched over the past year the amount the state would receive through a bond sale or loan drop dramatically. When initially proposed, the state would receive about $600 million for the tobacco funds. According to the governor, the present value of these funds is $340 million.

Currently, about $4.5 million annually of the Tobacco Settlement Funds goes to independent living grants, which would disappear after two years under the governor's plan.

This proposal negatively impacts 11,507 at-risk seniors maintained in their own homes by 40 non-profit and government agencies, at a cost of about $439 per senior per year. This same amount would only cover about 21⁄2 days in an institution.

The reason these 40 agency programs are so cost effective is that thousands of volunteers donate thousands of hours to help at-risk seniors remain at home. If these were paid positions, it would cost the state millions of dollars.

The governor says he will fund these programs for two years out of the $340 million. The question begging for an answer is: How does the state expect to meet its obligations to seniors after two years when the independent living grant program goes away with the loss of tobacco settlement funds that would have sustained them for another 17 years?

The independent living program is a major issue that deserves more attention than to eliminate it for a short term budgetary fix. It needs to be thoughtfully addressed, and not ignored.

Contact your legislators, and let them know this is an unacceptable proposal, and would cost taxpayers billions of dollars if seniors are institutionalized. Now more than ever, Nevada needs to hold on to what works both fiscally and programmatically - the governor's proposal does neither.

• Janice Ayres is president of the Nevada Senior Corps Association, representing 35,000 Nevada seniors, and executive director of Nevada Rural Counties RSVP.