Silver Haired Legislature Passes Public Transportation Funding Resolution

Special to the Ulysses News

The Kansas Silver Haired Legislature held their 40th Annual Session on October 4-6 in Topeka. The high point of the three-day conference is the Wednesday activity at the State Capitol. In the morning, the SHL is divided into three committees, which review, discuss, and debate the various bills and resolutions that are presented to them. Those receiving a favorable vote are then brought before the entire body during the afternoon session, where each issue is once again discussed, debated, and ultimately voted upon. Those receiving favorable passage then progress to the Thursday morning final session for either an up or down vote, The bills and resolutions that pass are then forwarded to the Kansas Legislature during the 2023 Legislative Session, with the SHL pushing for their enactment into Kansas Law.

One of the six resolutions that received favorable passage this year was Resolution 4002 - Continued Support and Funding for Community-Based Public Transportation.

Resolution 4002 ­— A RESOLUTION urging the Legislature of the State of Kansas to continue supporting and funding collaborative community-based transportation for senior citizens.

WHEREAS, The Baby Boomer generation is the largest in U.S. history, making up a large portion of the 46.2 million Americans aged 65 and over, representing 14.5% of the population, an age group projected to increase to 82.3 million and 21.7% of the population by 2040; and

WHEREAS, The 2020 population of Kansans aged 65 years and older was more than 460,000 people, representing 15.8% of the state’s total population, and that age group is projected to increase to more than 817,000 and 24.0% of the state’s total population by 2040; and

WHEREAS, Upon reaching retirement age, nearly 90% of Americans will choose to “age in place” in their homes and communities; and

WHEREAS, In the rural and suburban communities where senior citizens are most likely to live, public transportation may be either nonexistent or so limited as to prove impractical. More than 5.5 million Americans aged 65 and over, including a large population in Kansas, live in areas where public transportation services are poor or nonexistent; and

WHEREAS, While more than 20% of Americans aged 65 years and over do not drive, for the nearly 80% who do, the dangers of driving increase with age, as physical and mental abilities decrease;

and

WHEREAS, In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, statistics showed that about 7,500 adults aged 65 and over were killed in automobile crashes, and almost 200,000 senior citizens were treated in emergency departments for crash injuries; and

WHEREAS, For the senior citizens of Kansas and the nation to live successfully in their chosen communities, they must be able to access medical and other essential services; and

WHEREAS, Caregivers provide or arrange over 1.4 billion rides per year for senior citizens, but those who live long distances from their families or who need more frequent rides to receive ongoing medical treatment require more formal services; and

WHEREAS, Inadequate transportation hurts senior citizens’ physical and mental health by decreasing their access to needed medical services and increasing social isolation, contributing to the possibility of placement in long-term facilities at a significantly higher cost; and

WHEREAS, The senior citizens of Kansas and the nation face an ever-growing mobility crisis;

and

WHEREAS, A collaborative community-based transportation system that is developed through cooperation between local entities and state agencies and that creates multiple transportation options for senior citizens in any given community could help combat this mobility crisis and create a positive quality of life for senior citizens:

Now, therefore, Be it resolved by the Silver Haired Legislature of the State of Kansas: That we urge the Legislature of the State of Kansas to continue supporting to support and to increase the funding for of collaborative community-based transportation systems, including micro-transit support in rural and remote areas, for the senior citizens of Kansas; and

Be it further resolved: That we urge the Legislature of the State of Kansas to support the involvement of and control by local entities in establishing these collaborative community-based transportation systems.

Be it further resolved: That the Kansas department of transportation (KDOT) study and identify transportation needs in rural and remote areas and develop and implement plans that support those needs and that KDOT coordinates with local entities such as county governments, area agencies on aging, the silver haired legislature or other organizations to establish effective rural and remote transportation plans.

The Silver Haired Legislature gives a voice to approximately 600,000 Senior Citizens over the age of 60 in the State of Kansas. Each county in the state is allowed a delegate to the SHL, with the five largest counties having five additional delegates. For more information on the SHL, you are invited to view the website at kansas-shl.org.