Lower Bucks Today

Rep. Joe Hogan from Bucks County has announced the passage of his legislation aimed at increasing protections for seniors against financial exploitation. The bill, known as House Bill 2064, received strong bipartisan support in the House.

The proposed legislation mandates the reporting and disclosure of crucial records to state investigators. It also allows financial institutions and fiduciaries to temporarily delay transactions suspected of being linked to financial exploitation and engage in judicial proceedings to safeguard older adults.

Furthermore, House Bill 2064 permits the sharing of information and records between financial institutions, fiduciaries, and area agencies on aging. Similar to other voluntary reporters to protective services, these entities would be granted immunity from civil or criminal liability when they report, share records, provide information to area agencies on aging, or temporarily delay financial transactions.

“This is great news for older Pennsylvanians,” said Hogan. “When I held a hearing on the increase of scams and fraud in March of this year, we learned tens of thousands of dollars are lost every week in Bucks County to these types of criminal acts. This kind of legislation has been discussed for over a decade in Harrisburg but with no movement. I’m glad we were able to get this done and hopefully to the governor’s desk. Seniors hard-earned money is at stake.”

House Bill 2064 will now proceed to the Senate for concurrence.