Florida Senate - 2013                                     SM 912
       
       
       
       By Senator Abruzzo
       
       
       
       
       25-01033-13                                            2013912__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to adequately restore funding to the
    4         Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, during the 20th Century, the senior population has
    7  increased from 3.1 million to 33.2 million, and by 2030, that
    8  number is expected to increase to 80 million, and
    9         WHEREAS, half of people age 65 or older reside in nine
   10  states, led by Florida, California, and New York, and
   11         WHEREAS, interest rates for personal savings accounts have
   12  dropped to less than one-half of one percent, pensions are rare,
   13  pension and health care payments for retirees are decreasing,
   14  and investments in 401(k) retirement savings accounts and stocks
   15  have dramatically decreased, and
   16         WHEREAS, funding for low-cost housing has drastically
   17  decreased from the $650 million appropriated in 2005 to $78
   18  million in 2011 and $0 in 2012, and
   19         WHEREAS, with thousands of low-income seniors on waiting
   20  lists for as long as 2 or 3 years, there is a desperate need for
   21  low-cost housing, NOW, THEREFORE,
   22  
   23  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         That the Congress of the United States is urged to assist
   26  our nation’s low-income seniors by adequately funding the
   27  Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program.
   28         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   29  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   30  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   31  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   32  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.