This Action Alert comes to you from the Beacon Newspapers through www.MarylandAdvocates.org to raise a concern about the future of the Maryland Department of Aging.

The Department has been a separate cabinet-level agency of Maryland state government since Gov. Parris Glendening established it in 1999. That move raised the profile of aging issues in the state, creating the position of Secretary of Aging and making her a member of the Governor’s cabinet.

Today, severe budget constraints are leading Governor O'Malley to make cuts wherever possible in the state budget. It is rumored that among those cuts will be the end of the Department of Aging, with its varied programs moved into other departments, such as health or human resources.

While it may well be true that minuscule savings may result, it is not only redundant staff positions that will be lost. The entire agenda of aging issues will suffer if we no longer have a Secretary of Aging at the table. More than 1,000,000 Marylanders are today over 60, and this age group is the state’s fastest-growing one. Now is clearly not the time to be cutting back on attention to this demographic.

Please send a letter to Governor O’Malley urging him to retain the Department of Aging, and encourage your fellow advocates throughout the state to write him as well.

A proposed letter can be downloaded from this message (below), and you are welcome to use it as is, or as the basis of your own. The Governor’s mailing address is on the letter. Please send it NOW as time is of the essence.

If you prefer, e-mail the Governor by going to: http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/ or call his office at (410) 974-3901 or 1-800-811-8336 (MD Relay: 1-800-735-2258).

We ask that after you take whatever step you choose, you e-mail Maryland Advocates to let us know. We are at: info@marylandadvocates.org.