Three contenders to be Louisiana’s next governor say they’d elevate elderly affairs issues to a cabinet-level department, rather than a small agency inside the governor’s office.
But the candidates differed on the approach while addressing a candidate forum held in Baton Rouge this afternoon, The Associated Press reports.
Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne said he would merge the oversight of services for Louisiana’s older residents into the existing Department of Veterans Affairs, saying in many instances service needs overlap.
Both Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards said they instead would seek to create a Department of Elderly Affairs with its own cabinet secretary. That would require an amendment to the state’s constitution. Voters rejected the idea in last year’s election.
Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, was unable to attend the forum today, which was hosted by AARP Louisiana, state councils on aging and the Louisiana Aging Network.
