H*5025 Concurrent Resolution, By Neilson, McLeod, Leach, Agnew, Alexander, 
Allen, Anderson, Anthony, Bales, Ballentine, Bannister, Barfield, Battle, 
Bedingfield, Bingham, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, Branham, Brantley, Breeland, 
G. Brown, R. Brown, Cato, Chalk, Clemmons, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Coleman, 
Cooper, Cotty, Crawford, Daning, Dantzler, Davenport, Delleney, Duncan, Edge, 
Erickson, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, Govan, Gullick, Hagood, Haley, Hamilton, 
Hardwick, Harrell, Harrison, Hart, Harvin, Haskins, Hayes, Herbkersman, Hiott, 
Hodges, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hutson, Jefferson, Jennings, Kelly, Kennedy, 
Kirsh, Knight, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, Mahaffey, 
Merrill, Miller, Mitchell, Moody-Lawrence, Moss, Mulvaney, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, 
Ott, Owens, Parks, Perry, Phillips, Pinson, E.H. Pitts, M.A. Pitts, Rice, 
Rutherford, Sandifer, Scarborough, Scott, Sellers, Shoopman, Simrill, Skelton, 
D.C. Smith, F.N. Smith, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, 
W.D. Smith, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stewart, Talley, Taylor, Thompson, Toole, 
Umphlett, Vick, Viers, Walker, Weeks, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, 
Witherspoon and Young
 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO URGE COORDINATION OF GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE
 RESOURCES IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO PROTECT OUR SENIOR CITIZENS FROM
 SCAMS AND OTHER SCHEMES THAT UNDERMINE THEIR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE.

   04/15/08  House  Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate HJ-54
   04/16/08  Senate Introduced SJ-5
   04/16/08  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-5
   04/16/08  Senate Recalled from Committee on Judiciary SJ-5
   04/16/08  Senate Adopted, returned to House with concurrence SJ-5

TO URGE COORDINATION OF GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE RESOURCES IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO PROTECT OUR SENIOR CITIZENS FROM SCAMS AND OTHER SCHEMES THAT UNDERMINE THEIR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE.

Whereas, senior citizens are the most rapidly growing segment of South Carolina's population, with 1.3 million baby boomers joining seven hundred seventy-five thousand individuals already sixty and older, and this group can be especially vulnerable to scams; and

Whereas, there were more than six thousand total fraud complaints made through the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs in 2007 and presumably many more that went unreported; and

Whereas, the top South Carolina frauds consisted of magazine subscriptions, shop-at-home/catalog sales, foreign-money offers, Internet services, prizes/sweepstakes, and lotteries; and

Whereas, it falls to government to provide support to those senior adults who have been financially exploited through calculating theft of their resources by unscrupulous persons. Therefore, it is in the public interest of the State of South Carolina to preserve and enhance the ability of its senior citizens to both provide for themselves financially and safeguard their assets; and

Whereas, to help protect our seniors' resources, the Omnibus Adult Protection Act provides penalties for those who neglect, abuse, or exploit vulnerable adults, but further protection is needed. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, urge coordination of government and private resources in the State of South Carolina to protect our senior citizens from scams and other schemes that undermine their financial independence.

Be it further resolved that, by this resolution, the members of the General Assembly declare protection of vulnerable adults against unlawful and unscrupulous scams to be a high priority for all tax-funded agencies and institutions.

Be it further resolved that the Lieutenant Governor's Office on Aging shall coordinate with the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Office of Secretary of State, the Office of Attorney General, South Carolina Educational Television, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, members of the Adult Protection Coordinating Council, and other state agencies, private groups, local law enforcement, solicitors, magistrates, and media organizations to shield our senior citizens from fraudulent businesses and individuals who seek to take what seniors have worked hard their entire lives to obtain.

Be it further resolved that, by this resolution, the members of the General Assembly urge the strengthening of South Carolina's efforts to protect our senior adults against fraud through an educational campaign that calls upon the voluntary resources of the civic-minded South Carolina Cable Association, South Carolina Press Association, South Carolina Broadcasters Association, and other such groups in order to create appropriate public-service announcements and special programming on commercial and cable television stations, as well as newspaper features and reports.