Ballot box power and a long list of goals

Seniors want action

There are 1.66 million people 60 years of age or older in Illinois. Only five other states have more people in this age group. Illinois also has 1.14 million people 65 or older. Like other minorities throughout the United States, senior citizens in Illinois are beginning to raise their voices in collective efforts to improve their lives. And they are translating their feelings into votes.

Many of the concerns of senior citizens are in the domain of the federal government. The new age 70 mandatory retirement law affects all senior citizens in the United States. But there are many areas in which the state is the dominant factor in determining the quality of life for older people. At three conferences on aging in 1978, seniors spoke out on a variety of issues and problems which face them in Illinois. Participants came from all walks of life and geographic areas, but there was unanimity in their concerns and general agreement that the state needs to become much more aggressive in tackling the problems of the elderly in Illinois. There was also unanimous agreement with one senior's statement that "senior power equals voting power."

At these three conferences, the authors heard Illinois seniors assess main problems and also specify 1978 legislative goals. A review of legislative actions shows that their collective efforts paid off. A number of their 1978 goals were met. And they are working for more legislative action in 1979 and beyond.

Of the 1.66 million people 60 years of age or older in Illinois, 519,421 belong to either the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) or its larger sister organization, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The NRTA-AARP has a Joint State Legislative Committee, which determines the legislation both groups want to see enacted and devises strategies to effect passage of that legislation. In 1978 the committee held a series of six seminars throughout Illinois (in Champaign, Peoria, Rockford, Chicago, Springfield and Marion) to inform and discuss with the general NRTA-AARP membership the legislation that is most needed statewide.

The 1978 chairman of the NRTA-AARP Joint State Legislative Committee, 67-year-old Lee Obitts of Canton, told several hundred senior citizens at the Peoria seminar: "At some elections, up to 40 per cent of the voters have been people over 60, so we have power to lobby for bills we want passed. When one of the bills we support goes before the House in Springfield, make calls and write letters to your lawmakers!" Obitts said that the committee had five big legislative goals for 1978: (1) better long-term health care for the elderly; (2) simpler probate procedures so that people don't have to go to court and wait a long time to get what should be coming to them; (3) higher cost-of-living benefits for retired public employees; (4) an increase in the benefits of the Homestead Exemption Act to $3,000 and (5) improvements in the Circuit Breaker Law to $15,000.

Two of these goals were at least partially met in 1978. Public Act 80-1411 (H.B. 2691) provides services to enable elderly persons to remain in their homes longer, and P.A. 80-1408 (H.B. 1803) increases cost-of-living increments to 3 per cent for retired public employees.

Every second month the huge meeting room in the Chicago Catholic Charities building is filled with tables and chairs to accommodate 315 delegates to the Senior Senate. This body is affiliated with the National Council of Senior Citizens (Washington, D.C.), the Illinois Council of Senior Citizens (Springfield) and the Greater Chicago Council for Senior Citizens (an arm of the Chicago Teachers Union). The Senior Senate is an umbrella organization which includes 315 senior citizens organizations with a combined membership of 200,000 senior citizens in Cook, Lake, DuPage and Lansing counties. The nonsectarian senate's purpose is basically political. Senate members discuss and debate various statewide and national issues. The senate lobbies in Springfield, encourages its members to mount massive letter-writing campaigns to support various bills and also informs members about issues in upcoming local and statewide primaries and elections.

Senior Senate

"In the last couple of years we've had busloads of people in Springfield for the generic drug bill and other issues," said Matt Rottner, the 1978 chairman of the Senior Senate. "I feel we helped get the generic drug bill passed [P.A. 80-976, in

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effect July 1, 1978]."

Partially funded by the Illinois Department on Aging, the Midwest Conference on Aging was designed primarily for professionals — professors, sociologists, social workers and gerontol-ogists, some of whom were themselves senior citizens. It drew people from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin who were interested in what conference director Dr. Robert Osmon of Western Illinois University described as "programming to meet the educational and occupational problems of the young old." The emphasis was on finding part-time and full-time work for senior citizens.

While we talked to participants at these three conferences, we also sought out people who were not affiliated with formal organizations, interviewing senior citizens at the Lincoln Park Senior Center (a Chicago Housing Authority residence, with rent on a sliding scale based on income) and the Evanston Presbyterian Geneva Home (a not-for-profit home for the aging, in which the residents turn over all their assets in return for lifelong care).

We spoke to over 80 people at the three conferences and the two housing projects and found all of them committed to using their voting power to support candidates who take strong positions on issues that affect older people.

No. 1 concern - crime

Over the last three years the U.S. House and Senate Aging Committees conducted interviews with 1.7 million senior citizens to determine their biggest concerns. Crime was first. In the urban areas particularly, older Illinois people mentioned crime as one of their biggest fears. In Chicago there was hardly a senior citizen among those interviewed who hadn't been robbed or mugged. The crime situation in Chicago had even driven some senior citizens out of their own homes and into protected, congregate living situations.

Mrs. Minnette Bell, a resident of the Presbyterian Home in Evanston, literally left her Chicago north side home in fear for her life. "It got to the point where I was afraid to walk outside to the store," said the 75-year-old Mrs. Bell. "Before I left teaching I couldn't even walk on Peoria's Main Street without being afraid," said Josephine Owens, a retired teacher who lives in Bradford.

Mrs. Owens attended the NRTA-AARP conference in Peoria, where she formerly taught. "We elderly make an easy mark because we often have to take public transportation. Most of these criminals are too cowardly to attack a younger person."

What do senior citizens feel can be done about the crime, for which they are such easy marks? "The biggest thing is getting judges and politicians on the beam," said Josephine Owens. "They let a lot of these guys go, and a lot of others get let go after so-called rehabilitation."

"In high-crime areas the police departments should put on more police," said Matt Rottner, speaking for the 200,000-member Chicago Metropolitan Senior Senate.

Greatest fear - 'put away'

One of the greatest concerns of senior citizens is home health care which could provide many people the help they need to avoid going into institutions.

"The greatest fear of an older person is that they'll one day be put away," 67-year-old Mrs. Nell McDonald of Peoria said at the NRTA-AARP seminar in that city. There are places in Chicago and other cities where there are "old people's homes" on every block, Mrs. McDonald pointed out. "A lot of those people wouldn't have to be institutionalized if they received some kind of home medical care and one meal a day," she said.

House Bill 2691 (signed by the governor on August 30 into P. A. 80-1411) will provide services to enable persons to remain in their own homes.

Some senior citizens pointed out that state health programs are all the more important because President Carter has said "it might take years" before a comprehensive national health insurance program can be implemented.

Each year, thousands of men and women whose mates die without a will spend a lot of time and money in probate court. Mrs. Evelyn Friend, 72, of the Presbyterian Home in Evanston, found herself in probate court when her husband died without a will. "Lawyers' fees and the accountant wound up with a good part of the money," she recalled. "I was very mixed up during that whole time, not thinking straight, and I now feel that I was taken for a ride. Besides, it should be gotten over with quicker."

"A new probate law has been on the docket for four years," said Senior Senate chairman Rottner. "A lot of people have been trying to push it through, but so far it has been unsuccessful. There's a tremendous lobby against it, including lawyers, who charge between $200 and $500 to change a will."

Beginning January 1, 1979, the mandatory retirement age was raised to 70. With people living longer — and staying healthier — there are increasing numbers who want to work until age 70 and beyond. But many of these people can't find jobs, not even part-time. Who is going to hire a 70-year-old sales person, maintenance man, cook or painter?

"We'll find jobs for them," said 67-year-old Frank Wukovets of Blooming-ton. Wukovets attended the Midwest Conference on Aging. He is a manpower specialist for the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging, a private, nonprofit corporation that receives federal funds channeled through the Illinois Department on Aging. "There are two ways we do this. First we use the CETA program [Comprehensive Employment and Training Act], which is a federal program designed for people with incomes under $4,000. The federal government pays qualifying people $2.65 an hour and they can work 20 hours a week in nonprofit organiza-tions. The place where they're working doesn't pay, so this costs the taxpayers money. The second program we use is a state program called Senior Talent Employment Program — STEP — and it costs the taxpayers nothing."

Need - keep on working

STEP is a referral system that serves as an intermediary between the older job-hunter and an employer. Wukovets Urbana office keeps a list of people over 65 who are looking for jobs in a given field. Whenever an employment agency calls looking for workers, the names on the list are supplied to them. "We have STEP workers doing painting, light janitorial work, working as cooks, as day-care workers, baby-sitters, people-sitters for older people who have had strokes, sewing, doing yard work, carpentry and driving cars. The financial arrangement is between the employ- er and the worker. All you need for a STEP referral service is a telephone and

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a couple of people to run it." Wukovets said that STEP was founded at the University of Illinois nine years ago and has been working beautifully in Champaign County. "It's going to be used in Bloomington soon," he added. "I hope it will one day be used more extensively throughout the state."

At this time, however, there are still a great number of older people who can't find paying work. Many work as volunteers in schools, hospitals, nutrition centers and other community facilities. Several senior citizens pointed out that individual municipalities or the state might be wise to pay older people a nominal wage for performing social services. "For example, old people could definitely help in the schools to tutor reading," said George Paustian of the Lincoln Park Senior Center. "Some people do this as volunteer work now, but people should be remunerated in some way — at least carfare and lunch."

Big problem — housing

With rents skyrocketing and apartments being turned into condominiums, many Illinois senior citizens cannot afford to maintain their own apartments. Housing is a big problem. "The city of Chicago is in deplorable shape and has been for many years," said Rottner. "There are about 15,000 elderly people on the waiting list of the Chicago Housing Authority. Some have been on the list for seven years." These are usually low-income people who badly need low-rent housing.

Lou Jungheim, 73-year-old past chairman of the Senior Senate, recalled an ideal senior housing project that almost made it. "The federal government tried to establish a 202 Housing Project [in which the residents pay a certain amount of their income for rent, while the federal government pays the rest] on the campus of St. Xavier College in Chicago. The college officials were eager to have the seniors on campus, the land was available, but the project never got under way." Arefa residents, charging that the housing would generate too much traffic, organized an effective opposition. But Jungheim and Rottner feel that the Chicago City Council voted down the housing project for racial reasons — specifically, because politicians and area residents didn't want to include blacks in this project.

You read stories about older people having to eat dog food. At the store you can see older people carefully making their purchases to save a few pennies. According to Illinois senior citizens, lack of money is a major problem. It forces people to move out of their apartments. It keeps them ill-clothed and in poor health. Illinois seniors mentioned a number of ways in which older people could receive financial help.

Financial help

•   Circuit Breaker and Homestead Exemptions: Both the Circuit Breaker and the Homestead Exemption provide property tax relief for people over 65. The Circuit Breaker (called such because it acts like a circuit breaker in a home's electrical system) went into effect on October 1, 1972. It provides up to $650 in annual property tax cash rebates for both senior citizens and disabled renters and home owners who have incomes under $10,000 a year. Homestead Exemption went into effect on December 10, 1971. It allows for a $1,500 reduction in equalized assessed valuation of properties owned by people 65 and over (regardless of their income).

Greater benefits under the Circuit Breaker and Homestead Exemption were two of the 1978 goals of the NRTA-AARP. H.B. 2575 was designed to increase the Homestead Exemption to $3,000. (It passed the House on May 18 116-39. On June 8 it received a "Do Pass" by the Senate Revenue Committee and was placed on calendar order of second reading. However, it failed in the Senate on June 27 27-15-1.) S.B. 1617, designed to increase the eligibility of the Circuit Breaker Law to those earning up to $12,000, was amended to $15,000. It received an amendatory veto from Gov. James R. Thompson in August, lowering the ceiling back to $12,000. But the bill died when no positive action was taken by the House as of December 19, even though the Senate had accepted the veto 55-0 November 29.

•   Cost-of-Living Pension Increment for already retired public employees: While the state of Illinois has no jurisdiction over pensions of private corporations, it does have jurisdiction over retired employees of governmental units — city, county and village workers. The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund provides for a 2 per cent annual pension increase for 100,000 retired municipal public employees in Illinois. Retired employees of the state of Illinois also receive a 2 per cent yearly pension increment.

Public Act 80-1408 (H.B. 1803) will increase annual pension increments to 3 per cent for already retired state employees. Specifically, this helps state employees, state university teachers, downstate teachers and Chicago teachers. It does not, however, raise the pensions of the 100,000 retired public employees covered by the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.

"Two or three per cent certainly doesn't match inflation," said 73-year-old Louis McDonald, retired principal of Woodruff Senior High in Peoria and a member of the Joint Legislative Committee of the NRTA-AARP. McDonald pointed out that the rate of inflation in the U.S. was 10.97 per cent in 1974,9.1 per cent in 1975,5.8 percent

in 1976 and 6.5 per cent in 1977. "Even a 3 per cent yearly increase makes it really tough for the thousands of retired state and municipal employees to get by," said McDonald.

•  Tax Aids: "One thing I'd like to see done is to give some kind of sizeable state income tax rebate to senior citizens," said Joliet resident Ruby Walters at the Midwest Conference on Aging. "This would help them maintain their standard of living."

Illinois does have a number of tax rebates for senior citizens who fall into specific categories. A renter's rebate and the Illinois sales tax rebate both provide help for senior citizens with incomes under $10,000. But many seniors feel that these tax aids should be increased and others developed.

•   Utility Costs: Bruno Bartnick, chairman of the Senior Senate's Public Utilities Committee, calls the gas, telephone and electric companies "hogs

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at the trough who have no limit to their greed." Many seniors, he claims, are faced with the choice to "freeze or starve." They are faced with monthly utility and heat bills ranging from $200 to $300. "In October 1977, electric rates went up IV2 per cent. This year the gas company gave a 23 per cent dividend increase to their stockholders," he said. Bartnick, who advocates public ownership of major utilities, added: "In states with publicly owned utilities, rates are as much as 45 per cent lower than in Illinois."

"In so far as meeting the needs of elderly people I'd say the state had a batting average of 60 per cent against us and 40 per cent for us in 1978," said Matt Rottner. Rottner said that the Senior Senate would work in 1979 and beyond for better nursing home care for the elderly, more housing facilities, and still-cheaper prescription drugs. Past Senior Senate Chairman Lou Jungheim added: "The Generic Drug Law that became effective on July 1, 1978, was one of our big successes. In 1979 we're still hoping that they'll increase the Circuit Breaker to $15,000 and we want the Homestead Exemption increased to $3,000. We're still concerned over crime. The laws should be tightened. Locally, we're fighting with different departments of the city of Chicago to get better, safer, and more accessible transportation. You wouldn't believe how hard it is just to try to get buses to pull over to the curb. When we talk to city bureaucracies as individuals they don't listen. But when we talk on behalf of our group we find that we're much more powerful."

"I'd call 1978 about 50 per cent successful legislatively," said Obitts. Among the successes: "We did get the cost-of-living increment increased from 2 to 3 per cent for state employees, which is something we worked on for a long time.

The 1979 legislative goal

"The biggest 1979 goal is getting the Circuit Breaker eligibility raised to those making up to $15,000. We will persist on that as long as it takes. We would rather have the Circuit Breaker improvements passed than the increased Homestead Exemption. The Homestead Exemption is for everyone over 65, regardless of income. But the Circuit Breaker is for people with limited incomes, so it would cure more ills for people with property tax problems. In 1979 we will also be lobbying for a uniform probate code which will make it easier to probate wills from one state to another and will help keep smaller estates out of courts. We also want to see more done to help people stay in their homes rather than have to enter nursing homes."

Senior Legislative Forum

In every issue discussed you can find senior citizens who disagree. For instance, there are many individuals who want to retire earlier than the traditional age of 65. But the senior citizens' movement is still in its infancy. As the movement grows, the various senior citizens organizations seem to be uniting on certain issues. And politicians realize that. In the fall of 1978 Lt. Gov. Dave O'Neal organized representatives from 340 statewide organizations into the Senior Legislative Forum, its purpose being to deveop legislative proposals for Illinois government. Meeting in Springfield, the Senior Legislative Forum came up with concrete, detailed proposals on topics such as housing, health, income maintenance, transportation, social services, and consumer fraud. Lt. Gov. O'Neal said that during the next four years he will work with representatives of these 340 organizations to carry their proposals to Gov. James R. Thompson and the state legislature. The executive committee of the Forum planned to meet again to refine their proposals before they were submitted to Gov. Thompson and the General Assembly.

Voting power

With people living longer, every day more of us join the ranks of senior citizens. By the year 2050, population experts expect that one in five persons will be over 65 (as opposed to one out of 25 in 1900). So just by their sheer numbers, senior citizens are destined to become more powerful politically.

Even now, with the voting power of 1.66 million in Illinois, senior citizens have become a sizable voting sector of our state.

"Elected officials hear our voices and our votes," said Obitts, speaking for the 519,421-member NRTA-AARP. "By developing our priorities and our individual commitment to state lawmakers who support those priorities, we are being heard. If not for the influence of retired people in Illinois, the Generic Drug Law would never have passed." Rottner added: "Five years ago when I first became active in the Senior Senate, senior citizens didn't bother much about things affecting them. In the last five years that has changed. We're not waiting for a handout; we're not waiting for people to do things for us; we're going to go out and do them for ourselves. Seniors have come to the conclusion that senior power includes voting power. Through our various organizations we're going to make that power felt at a city, state and federal level."

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