Iowa Department For Elderly May Have DOA Acronym

`Maybe we just won`t have an acronym for them,` Janet Peterson said.

Lawmakers in Iowa on Wednesday raised some eyebrows when they voted to rename a department that deals with seniors, allowing it to carry the acronym DOA.

DOA is a term that stands for dead-on-arrival.

"You can't have an acronym like this when you're referring to elderly people," Rep. Dave Heaton, 68, said after both houses of the legislature voted to change the name of the Department of Elder Affairs to the Department on Aging (DOA).

Heaton said he was offended and suggested the department should consider referring to itself as DA instead.

The change was spurred by the legislature's desire to make the department's name conform with those of federal agencies that deal with the elderly, said Rep. Janet Peterson, who is 38.

She noted that the department's previous name was a problem as well because some older Iowans did not want to be known as "elders."

"Maybe we just won't have an acronym for them," she said.

Iowa's governor must approve the name change for it to become law.