Silver-Haired Legislature

ISSUE AREA: LEADERSHIP

City: Kansas City, MO
Leadership - Seniors - Regional Cooperation

Contact:
Jackie Moore
Director
Mid-America Regional Council
600 Broadway, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64105-1554
(573) 526-8557
agingservices@marc.org

Date Published: October 2006

The Silver-Haired Legislature serves the five Missouri counties of Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte, and Ray. The Legislature consists of an elected body of officials who are all at least 60 years of age. Voting occurs each year at the local Department of Senior Services senior centers. All residents of the five counties above age sixty are eligible to vote for the Silver-Haired Legislature. Each of the ten district Department of Senior Services centers elects three senators and twelve representatives. Once elected, the senators and representatives from each area center gather to ascertain the most important issues facing seniors in their area, and then draw up bills and resolutions addressing these issues.

The entire legislature convenes once a year to vote on the proposed bills and resolutions. At this meeting, which occurs in the fall, the senators and representatives from all ten district centers debate and discuss the proposed bills and resolutions. Five of these are selected as the top priority issues to be considered in the Missouri General Assembly for the next year. The senators and representatives then meet with their locally elected General Assembly officials about the top issues agreed upon by the Silver-Haired Legislature, and to get these officials to sponsor their bills and resolutions in the General Assembly. They are also responsible for communicating with their local senior citizens, and informing them about important issues affecting the senior population, such as prescription drug legislation.

The Silver-Haired Legislature has proven to be an effective form of legislative advocacy for senior citizens in Missouri and many other states. Many of the bills and resolutions proposed by the Silver-Haired Legislature have been adopted as law in Missouri, such as the Nursing Home Reform Law, the removal of sales tax on pharmaceutical drugs, and the creation of a pharmaceutical tax credit for low-income seniors.

The Silver-Haired Legislature was established in Missouri in order to address the needs of Missouri’s older citizens. It is coordinated by the Mid-America Regional Center (MARC) Department of Senior Services, which addresses issues facing senior citizens on the local level. MARC receives federal, state, and local public funding to ensure the success of its programs. Through the Older Americans Act of 1965, Area Agencies on Aging were created throughout the country. MARC’s Department of Senior Services is one of these agencies.

The Department of Senior Services created the Silver-Haired Legislature in 1973, as a means to find out the key legislative issues affecting seniors, and give the Senior citizens a voice in the local and state government on issues directly effecting the aging population. The Legislature was originally funded through the Older Americans Act civic education fund. However, when those funds were cut, the program became funded by the state and the Area Agencies on Aging as an advocacy group for senior citizens.

Resources:

www.marc.org/aging/silverhaired.htm