Brian Moran has a record of standing up for Virginia’s seniors. As a legislator, Brian Moran championed increasing reimbursements for personal care workers and incentives for long-term care insurance. As a legislative leader, he proposed and passed legislation to raise penalties for those who abuse or neglect incapacitated adults. He also led the fight to protect seniors from those who would abuse their trust by abusing their power of attorney. Brian made sure that holders of powers of attorney are accountable for their financial actions. As governor, Brian Moran will continue fighting to protect Virginia’s seniors.
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• Giving Our Seniors a Seat at the Table. It is past time that Virginia gave our seniors a seat at the table. The number of older Virginians will grow dramatically over the next 20 years. By next year persons over age 60 will comprise almost 20% of Virginia’s population. By 2030, one in four Virginians will be over the age of 60, a 120% increase from 2000. As governor, Brian Moran will make aging issues a top priority. As governor, Brian Moran will create an Aging Czar who will coordinate state services across secretariats and agencies and report directly to the governor.
• Caring for Virginia’s Greatest Generation. As governor, Brian Moran will invest in services that help older Virginians remain independent and in their homes as long as possible. He will work to improve access to and the quality of long-term care, as well as long-term care alternatives so that seniors can age with dignity in their own homes. He will also work to provide older Virginians a clear and simple gateway to get the services they need. Brian Moran is also committed to strengthening Virginia’s long-term care accountability and watchdog efforts to protect older Virginians and to ensuring that all licensed health-care professionals undergo periodic evaluation of their knowledge and skills as a condition of re-licensure. Brian Moran will also create a web-accessible quality ratings system for assisted living facilities so that consumers and their families can find the best one for them.
• Protecting Our Seniors. As a former prosecutor, Brian Moran knows that we have no more serious responsibility than to care for the physical and financial well-being of our seniors. That is why he believes that the 14,314 cases of reported elder and vulnerable adult abuse in Virginia in 2008 were unacceptable. Unfortunately, the problem is getting worse, not better. As governor, Brian Moran will increase punishments for those who seek to harm Virginia’s seniors physically or financially. He will also work with Virginia’s financial institutions to ensure that their employees are trained to detect elder fraud and financial abuse, because in these tough economic times, we must make protecting the financial security of our seniors a priority.
• Ensuring Retirement Security. Today, Virginia’s seniors and those looking toward retirement are facing economic challenges unlike any since the Great Depression. The same is true for those who hope to retire in the coming years. Unfortunately, too many of Virginia’s small businesses are unable to offer quality retirement benefits to their employees. Virginia’s small businesses and their workers deserve better. That is why, as governor, Brian Moran will support Retirement Savings Plans for small business employees through Virginia Employee Voluntary Accounts (VEVA’s). These accounts would allow small businesses with less than 50 employees to benefit from economies of scale by reducing the expenses of offering employees voluntary enrollment in a retirement savings system. Virginia’s small businesses and small business employees deserve retirement security, and, as governor, Brian Moran will fight to make this a reality for more of Virginians.
