state + local

Thank you Governor Dayton and Senator Limmer for working to pass this bill to protect our seniors. It is nice to see Democrats and Republicans working together instead of bickering.

There are still less obvious methods of elder abuse - financial abuse. You see way too many of these "caregivers" insinuate themselves into an elderly person's life, strike up a "friendship," isolate them from their families and real friends ("they won't take care of you, but I will"), then suddenly there's a $10 K "loan" for a vehicle, the "caregiver" displays undue interest in the elder's checkbook and financial affairs, pressuring to be given the checkbook so she (it is most often a female) can better "take care" of the elder, and then equally as suddenly, the "caregiver" is in the will based on false promises that they will take care of the elderly person and not place them in a nursing home. You will see these "caregivers" move on from one elderly person to another as each dies and the gravy train from that person dries up. It would be very hard to prosecute this because the elders are technically competent, and have the right to give their money and estates to 50 cats if they wanted to, but there seems to be those career "caregivers" that family needs to watch out for.

this is a good step in the right direction, however, the focus should be ahead of the curve rather than behind it. We had a caregiver for my mother last year from a premier caregiving agency in the cities who abused my mom terribly - physically, monetarily, etc. After the fact when we looked at her court record it was riddled w/ misdemeanors, yet the law states these agencies only need to allow legal restrictions on those who have committed murder/rape. Let's start ahead of the game and create tougher laws as to who can care for the elderly in the first place....the punishment after the fact has little value for the individual who has been harmed or their families. Yes, it's better than nothing, but the deterrents need to be in place in terms of better legal screening of candidates who assume these positions.

What's missing here? The laywers. Why aren't legal guardians also included in this bill? There been many recent stories about guardians who have drained custodial accounts for their personal benefits -- and leaving their elderly charges to become taxpayer-supported wards of the State.

JMarvin is absolutely correct. I am impressed theat Hennepin County Atty. Mike Freeman has started taking on these difficult cases. Can not think of any other County Attorney or State Attorney General that has so properly protected not only our seniors but other citizens who have been victims of financial crimes. Freeman deserves alot of credit.

Why aren't the liberals applauding the good work of the GOP?

Who is going to enforce this? A lot of neglect is swept under the rug by administrators at nursing homes as they are ultimately responsible along with the director of nurses. This bill also does not address retaliation against nurses who by law are required to report abuse or neglect. Often the whistleblower is punished by management. One administrator was found to have committed retaliation by a district court and only received non-disciplinary education from the Board of Nursing Home Administrators. The administrators license should have been suspended. The MN Dept of health (OHFC) responsible for investigating abuse and neglect often never investigates and merely takes the report from management as gospel. Most likely due to a lack of funding, but still perpetrators are rarely held accountable.