2007.02.27: February 27, 2007: Headlines: Figures: Staff: COS - Ethiopia: Country Directors - Ethiopia: Vermont Cynic : Harris Wofford launches campaign to engage N.Y. seniors
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2007.02.27: February 27, 2007: Headlines: Figures: Staff: COS - Ethiopia: Country Directors - Ethiopia: Vermont Cynic : Harris Wofford launches campaign to engage N.Y. seniors
Harris Wofford launches campaign to engage N.Y. seniors
Harris Wofford, the 80-year-old former Kennedy White House official and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, said legislatures around the country need to do more to encourage older Americans to stay in their communities and stay involved. He touted a series of measure introduced in Albany that would, among other things, allow people over 60 to take college classes for free and give seniors a small tax credit in exchange for working 75 volunteer hours per year. Former Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania, was the Country Director of Ethiopia.
Harris Wofford launches campaign to engage N.Y. seniors
Peace Corps veteran launches campaign to engage N.Y. seniors
By YANCEY ROY
Journal Albany Bureau
ALBANY — The Democrat who helped start the Peace Corps 46 years ago came to New York Tuesday to perhaps launch a wave of legislation aimed at keeping senior citizens engaged in society by working longer, volunteering or attending college.
Harris Wofford, the 80-year-old former Kennedy White House official and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, said legislatures around the country need to do more to encourage older Americans to stay in their communities and stay involved. He touted a series of measure introduced in Albany that would, among other things, allow people over 60 to take college classes for free and give seniors a small tax credit in exchange for working 75 volunteer hours per year.
“New York is the first state to have a package like this,” Wofford said. He said states need to get legislation in place before the Baby Boom generation starts retiring.
“If we don’t get ahead of this,” Wofford said, “then we’ll (later) find that our industries have been hurt, our communities have been hurt and all kinds of Americans who could’ve had a different life will be hurt ...”
The package of bills doesn’t appear to be controversial and have already won bi-partisan support by the leaders of the Senate and Assembly committees on Aging. The measures include:
# Offer seniors a $750 property-tax exemption for volunteering 75 hours per year.
# Create to program to encourage job-training providers to tailor more programs for senior citizens and help re-train seniors.
# Establish panels to identify laws that currently limit the elderly from working beyond retirement and one to create a volunteer, “intergenerational” mentoring program.
# Encourage — and perhaps help fund — colleges to create “learning centers” designed for senior citizens.
Assemblyman Steve Englebright, D-Suffolk County, co-sponsor of the bills, did not immediately have a cost estimate of the college-related measures. He said he believes the Legislature could pass all the bills before the session ends in June.
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Headlines: February, 2007; Staff Member Harris Wofford; Figures; Staff; Peace Corps Ethiopia; Directory of Ethiopia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ethiopia RPCVs; Country Directors - Ethiopia; New York
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Story Source: Vermont Cynic
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; Staff; COS - Ethiopia; Country Directors - Ethiopia
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