Senate bill protecting elders stalled in Assembly

It has been over a month since a cowardly punk mugged grandmothers Rose Morat, 101 and Solange Elizee, 86, stealing the women’s wedding rings and leaving Morat with a broken cheekbone.
Elizee is so shaken, she is moving out of her home for the last 20 years, to a senior facility with 24-hour guards. Police are still searching for the brutal thief.
In Albany, the “Elder Abuse Bill,” sponsored by Senator Serphin Maltese, flew through the Senate in late March, passing by a unanimous vote. The bill has been reported as “stalled” in the Assembly.
According to published reports, Sisa Moyo, a spokesperson for Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, claimed the bill is “flawed” and wouldn’t pass the Assembly as drafted. The bill makes it a felony to assault a person 70 or older, or anyone over the age of 60 with a medical infirmity. Under current law, while the robberies are felonies, the assaults are misdemeanors.
On April 11, Maltese, joined by Morat and Elizee, Senators Frank Padavan and Brooklyn’s Marty Golden, met with about 300 seniors and staff at the Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP) facility in Queens Village.
Maltese, Padavan and Golden expressed outrage at the crimes, and called on the audience to contact their Assemblymember, as well as Silver, to demand they take action and pass the bill.
Morat spoke at length to cheers when she complained that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was not at the meeting, called for more police foot patrols and suggested that seniors be exempt from New York City taxes.
Maltese would not describe the legislation as “stalled,” telling The Queens Courier, “I don’t want to make a political issue out of this; I just want to get it passed, and fully expect that it will be.”
“It isn’t stalled,” Moyo told The Queens Courier, adding, “the truth is that no prosecutor worth his salt would prosecute this as a misdemeanor.” When reminded that if the thief hadn’t taken anything, he could only be charged with a misdemeanor, Moyo said, “On the issue of Elder Abuse, we recognize that something should be done and look forward to working with the Senate on this issue,” adding, “there have been discussions.”