Silver-Haired Legislators attend annual Senior Advocacy Week with Missouri legislators

Last fall, SHL delegates came together through a teleconference for their 47th Annual Conference and chose these issues as their top five priorities to support during the 2021 legislative session:

1.      Reinstatement of funding to MO Rx program.
2.      Create a Missouri sales tax on internet purchases.
3.      Increase state excise tax on tobacco from $0.17 to $1.81.
4.      Earmark money recouped by MO HealthNet for return to MO Health Net.
5.      Create Missouri state income tax credits for aging in place home remodels.

As the Area Agency on Aging for Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte and Ray counties in Missouri, the Mid-America Regional Council’s department of Aging and Adult Services provides administrative support to the local SHL chapter. SHL delegates are chosen through elections at area senior centers. For more information about the SHL, contact MARC at 816-474-4240.

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Missouri’s Silver Haired Legislature was founded in 1973, the first such organization in the nation after the Older Americans Act was amended to include advocacy groups. The SHL is composed of 15 volunteers (age 60 or older) from each of the 10 statewide Area Agencies on Aging. These 150 senior advocates, elected by their peers, identify and advocate for issues critical to older Missourians.