COLUMBIA - The Division on Aging would remain in the lieutenant governor's office under a bill approved Wednesday by the Senate General Committee.

A temporary provision in the state budget that took effect in July put the division under the lieutenant governor's office. The bill would make the pairing permanent, said Nela Gibbons, Office on Aging director.

"It needs to be somewhere permanent and stay there," Gibbons said.

The aging office addresses the needs of roughly 660,000 older South Carolinians and acts as a go-between for the elderly and senior-service organizations.

Some people are concerned the bill may get tied up in debate over agency restructuring that's expected later this session.

But others said that shouldn't hinder this bill.

"It's the right thing to do, and now is the time to do it," said Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, a bill sponsor.

The bill likely will hit the Senate floor in the upcoming weeks.