Silver Haired Legislature sets 2018 priorities
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Amid dealing with cuts to three area senior centers in northwest Missouri, the Silver Haired Legislature met in mid-October to set the body’s priorities for advocacy in 2018.
The annual goal-setting meeting, held in Jefferson City Oct. 14-16, allowed the 114 delegates in attendance to come together and formulate, not only the most important items for the body, but also plans to advocate for those issues in upcoming legislative sessions.
At the top of the priorities list was Senior Services Growth and Development Services. Nodaway County delegate Dick Logan said this priority concerns the taxes on insurance policies.
“Currently, our insurance policies have an additional two percent tax on them,” Logan said. “Half of that tax revenue goes to education and half goes to the general fund. We would like to have some of that tax revenue dispersed to the Area Agencies on Aging.”
In part, that funding would likely go to helping the group’s third priority, increasing funding for home-delivered meals provided by the Area Agencies on Aging.
The second priority calls for a revision of MoRx, which Logan said help seniors get the medications they need at affordable prices.
“It used to be law, but the state legislature repealed it years ago,” Logan said. “We want to lobby Congress to bring it back so that senior citizens can afford what they need.”
The Silver Haired Legislature also voted to include the Circuit Breaker property tax credit, which the group wants to remain at the 2016 level. That credit lowers property taxes in the form of a rebate for senior citizens.
The fifth and final priority for the Silver Haired Legislature in 2018 is a controversial one, Logan said.
“We voted to advocate for the approval of medical marijuana use in Missouri,” Logan said. “Some didn’t vote for it, and there was plenty of debate, but it’s important because it will help some people who live with chronic pain, cancer and seizures to live with much less pain.”
In the past, the Silver Haired Legislature has lobbied for such things as home-delivered and congregate meals (Meals served at community or senior centers), transportation for seniors to get to doctor’s offices or run errands and other needs that are intrinsic to aging. Logan is in his sixth year as Nodaway County’s delegate in the Silver Haired Legislature.
The Silver Haired Legislature in Missouri was established in 1973. It was the first to be developed in the United States after the Older Americans Act was amended in 1967 to include advocacy groups. In Missouri, each of the 10 statewide Area Agencies on Aging is able to send up to 15 delegates to the group, each one elected by their peers.