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TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would require the inclusion of a senior resident of a continuing care retirement community on the facility’s local governing board was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 35-1.

“Any just government must operate with approval and representation of the people,” said Senator Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, the Vice Chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. “However, in retirement communities, the voice of the people is being silenced by boards of directors who are not accountable to their residents. In these communities, where the boards of directors act as de facto governments, it is only fair that we give seniors a voice in the decision-making process affecting their daily lives.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would require the inclusion of a senior resident of a continuing care retirement community on the facility’s local governing board was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee by a vote of 9-0.

“Seniors’ rights to representative government do not end at the retirement home door,” said Senator Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, the Vice Chair of the health panel. “However, in the cases of residential care facilities, boards of directors often operate with quasi-governmental powers, establishing rules and regulations for the seniors who live there. The residents of these facilities should have a voice in the decision-making process, and be afforded the same right to representation as guaranteed by our nation’s Constitution.”