Jun. 24, 2015
BEDFORD - The House Aging and Older Adult Committee today voted unanimously in favor of legislation intended to increase cooperation between state agencies, in order to enhance protection from senior citizens in cases of unwanted telephone calls which lead to financial exploitation, Rep. Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Franklin/Fulton) said.
“Over the past several years, we have seen an increase in cases of senior abuse and fraud across the Commonwealth,” Topper said. “
House Bill 271 is a commonsense solution which will help our agencies gain more information about how people are falling victim to financial exploitation. By learning more about these incidents, we can learn what can be done to prevent them.”
House Bill 271 calls for the state Office of the Attorney General to notify the Pennsylvania Department of Aging on a regular basis regarding any investigation being conducted under the state’s Telemarketer Registration Act which involves someone age 60 or older. Through that cooperation, local Area Agencies on Aging could identify, or possibly observe, potential patterns of financial exploitation, such as scams and sweepstakes fraud. Under current law, the attorney general’s office only reports detailed investigations and enforcement actions during the preceding fiscal year to the General Assembly.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
For more legislative news, go to
RepTopper.com.
Representative Jesse Topper
78th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Nick Ruffner
717.260.6258
nruffner@pahousegop.com