A can of aging worms

Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. just wanted to look at rampaging growth among the older population in Brunswick and a few other Eastern counties.

But when the Tabor City Democrat brought a bill before the House Aging Committee today, members from other parts of the state said they faced the same questions: How many people over 65 would be living in their counties in decades to come? And what would that mean for county services? Soles had opened the proverbial can of worms.

"In Guilford, our numbers are climbing as well," said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat.

Not only that, Dennis Streets, director of the state's Division of Aging and Adult Services, said the kind of detailed demographic and economic analysis the bill calls for is really more the province of academia or a private consultant. DAAS routinely keeps counties informed of demographic shifts, but not at the level indicated in the bill, Thomas Goldsmith reports.

Faced with members who wanted data about their own counties, too, Soles withdrew the bill for more study.