Article Courtesy Tallahassee Democrat
By David Twiddy
Posted on Tue, Jul. 30, 2002

Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday appointed a 15-member commission that will spend the next six months finding ways to help Florida attract more retirees.

Florida already is a top magnet for people age 55 and older, who make up 27.3 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census.

And they bring with them big wallets. Bush said that people 50 and older spent $135.5 billion in Florida last year and generated $2 billion in sales taxes.

"I think the conventional wisdom is that seniors somehow are a burden, while in fact they are providing a net economic benefit for many others," Bush said.

But other states have begun tapping into the senior market, Bush said, noting that North Carolina and South Carolina combined took in more retirees last year than Florida.

In fact, the growth of the elderly population in Florida has been declining. Throughout the 1990s, the senior citizen population grew 19 percent, compared to 29 percent in the 1980s and 65 percent in the 1970s.

The Destination Florida Commission, which includes former Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula and retired Florida State University professor Mae-Louise Baker, will look at how to make the state more competitive, what services senior citizens want and how well the state and businesses are providing them. The group is expected to issue an interim report in the fall and a final list of recommendations in January.

'A huge opportunity'

Among those happy that Bush is looking at the issue are developers, who count on retirees as they plan new communities in Central Florida and the Panhandle.

"The Baby Boomer migration represents a huge opportunity to Florida, and the governor is right to recognize this potential economic force that is coming in the next 10 years," said Jerry Ray, a spokesman for St. Joe/Arvida, which is developing properties along the coast west of Tallahassee.

Others said they were concerned with the long-term costs of increased nursing homes, health care and other needs as the current and future senior populations continue to age. The Agency for Health Care Administration said the state paid $3.1 billion last year for Medicaid services to the elderly.

Just so "as they work to attract more people to the state, they understand the ramifications of that," said Ed Burtenshaw, public affairs manager for AARP. He said past AARP president Tess Canja of Port Charlotte is on the commission and will keep that in mind.

Bush, on the other hand, downplayed those concerns, saying that his officials have eliminated the 11,000 names on waiting lists for services that existed four years ago. New waiting lists have around 15,000 names, but only about 2,500 of those are considered high-priority cases.

"We've done more than previous administrations in terms of funding of these programs," he said.