Following an hour of questioning from state senators and representatives, and testimony from Department for Aging and Independent Living officials, one ask was made at the end of Thursday’s Legislative Oversight & Investigations Committee in Frankfort.

Pull $9 million of funding from the state’s $22 billion budget through the executive branch, or call a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly — either way solving the “coming crisis” of a severely-reduced senior home-delivered meals plan across the Commonwealth.

LOIC Co-chair and District 28 Senator Greg Elkins summarized the session with a call to action before thousands face roll removal going into Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day and potentially longer.

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Among those in the tribunal were Department of Aging and Independent Living Commissioner Victoria Elridge, General Counsel for the Cabinet of Health and Family Services Wesley Duke and Division Director for the Department of Aging and Independent Living Amy Metzger — who each answered pointed questions about how the state’s budget even got to this precipitous moment.

Elridge testified that senior home-delivered meals are funded through federal and state dollars, with her department and the state’s 15 area development districts serving as the ultimate passthroughs. She noted that this administration — both the office of Governor Andy Beshear and a Republican supermajority in the House and Senate — has invested more into the program than any other time in the state’s history, as demand only continues to grow.

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As such, she said the increase in need has “outstripped” the funding available, when the current budget was crafted in Fall 2023, and she called the current $10 million annually allotted as “unprecedented” support from both Beshear and the KGA.

The “one-time” funding used to help expand the program, she added, came from American Rescue Plan Act dollars — which ended September 30 — as well as vacancy credits and unexpended dollars within the state’s budget, and she claimed the state’s reported $300 million shortfall supersedes any potential federal cuts.

Elkins asked if anyone of authority told DAIL that the $10 million annually over the 2024-26 biennium budget wasn’t going to be enough, and instead asked for $15 million annually, and Elridge said “yes.”

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District 2 Senator Danny Carroll — serving Ballard, Carlisle, Livingston, Marshall, McCracken counties — asked Duke if there was any immediate plan in place, exactly one month to the day in which DAIL delivered its September 8 “find-a-solution” memorandum to state ADDs, and two months to the day in which DAIL officials said “all is well.”

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Taking into account all 15 ADDs, Elridge and Metzger noted that the statewide average for a senior home-delivered meal is $10.16.

Furthermore, District 31 Senator Phillip Wheeler — serving Elliott, Johnson, Lawrence, Martin and Pike counties — called it “the governor’s decision,” and the “governor’s decision alone,” to call the KGA into special session, and that the cost to do so would not surpass the need.

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District 93 Representative Adrielle Camuel — serving part of Fayette County — said she had been struggling with this problem, and particularly lauded Representative Jason Petrie’s budgeting prowess.

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Vice Chair and District 1 Senator Jason Howell — serving Calloway, Crittenden, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Lyon and Trigg counties — said he was befuddled by the continued talks of “shortfall,” and asked if everyone was aware that ceasing federal ARPA dollars would change the math.

Metzger answered.

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Howell went on to note that this was either “ineptitude” or “intentional for political games,” and District 39 Representative Matt Lockett — who serves parts of Fayette and Jessamine counties — called it “no game” when it comes to feeding senior constituents.

He also sent a clear message back to Elridge, Duke and Metzger.

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The Older Americans Act of 1965 is a 171-page federal law that gives states the power to provide essential services and programs for the nation’s elderly, and includes assistance in retirement, housing and long-term care solutions, employment opportunities, community liaise and family caregiver supports.

It means anyone 60 and older “can” participate, and at this moment in state history, some now “can’t” after being told “they could.”

FULL HEARING:

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Legislative Members

Greg Elkins – (S) – Co-Chair

Scott Sharp – (H) – Co-Chair

Jason Howell – (S) – Vice Chair

Danny Carroll – (S)

Gerald A. Neal – (S)

Matt Nunn – (S)

Aaron Reed – (S)

Reginald L. Thomas – (S)

Phillip Wheeler – (S)

John Blanton – (H)

Lindsey Burke – (H)

Adrielle Camuel – (H)

Matt Lockett – (H)

Steve Riley – (H)

Tom Smith – (H)

Wade Williams – (H)