Submitted Article to
news@showmetimes.com
Age Spots - By Ruth Dockins
Silver Haired Election to be held May 6
The Silver Haired Legislature (SHL) is a formally elected body of citizens 60 years of age or older that promote conscientious legislative advocacy for Missouri’s older adults.
All members are volunteers who serve without pay. Currently there are no term limits so a delegate may be re-elected to an unlimited number of terms. The elected delegates participate in a mock legislative session patterned after the MO General Assembly. The session is held in Jefferson City in the fall of each year. Many of the activities take place in the Senate and House chambers of the Capitol building.
The SHL delegates work all year as advocates for senior issues. They are kept abreast of proposed legislation and stay in touch with the legislators. Many of the legislators contact the SHL delegates asking for their input on proposed legislation.
There are 10 Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) in Missouri and SHL delegates are elected from each AAA area. This brings about 150 seniors together in Jefferson City to present bills, debate issues, and choose the top five for which they will advocate during the year.
If you are interested in becoming a SHL delegate you should file a Declaration of Candidacy with the SEMO Area Agency on Aging office. This statement must arrive in the office by close of business on April 21. You may obtain an application by contacting our office at 1-800-392-8771 or locally at 335-3331 or pick one up at your local senior center.
The counties of Southeast Missouri are divided into three regions for purposes of SHL representation. The Bootheel region is made up of the counties of: Stoddard, Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot and Dunklin. This region has only one seat open this year. This is for one Representative.
The Ozark Foothills region is made up of the counties of: Ripley, Butler, Wayne, Reynolds and Carter. This region has only one seat open this year. This is for one Representative.
The Southeast Region consists of the counties of: St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Iron, Madison, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau. This region has seats open for one Senator, and two Representatives.
The May 6 election will be held at the area senior centers during regular business hours. Contact our office to learn more about this very important program.
Submitted Article to
news@showmetimes.com
Age Spots - By Ruth Dockins
The Silver Haired Legislature
The Silver Haired Legislature (SHL) is a formally elected body of citizens 60 years of age and older that promote conscientious legislative advocacy for Missouri’s older adults. All members are volunteers who serve without pay. Elections are held annually during the month of May at the local senior centers. Senior citizens elect three senators and twelve representatives from each of the ten area agencies on aging in the state, for a total of 30 senators and 120 representatives.
The Bootheel region is comprised of Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Dunklin and Stoddard counties, there is one open seat for a representative from this region. The Ozark Foothills region is made up of Butler, Ripley, Carter, Reynolds and Wayne counties. This year there will be one representative elected from that region. One senator and two representatives will be elected from the Southeast Region which is made up of St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Iron, Madison, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties.
This past year the SHL met in Jefferson City October 9, 10 & 11. This annual meeting is held in the Missouri State Capitol building
It would be difficult to find a more dedicated group of senior citizens. Prior to the mock legislative session in Jefferson City they have meetings locally and determine what issues they feel are important enough to bring before the legislature as Silver Haired Proposals. After they decide on the issues they write the proposals which are presented to the SHL board for approval. The board chooses 20-21 proposals for presentation at the mock legislative session.
The SHL holds committee meetings the first day of the session. The committees are: Social Service, Health, Consumer Affairs and Taxation. Each member has been assigned to a committee based in part on their stated preference, this is where each proposal is heard.
After all proposals assigned to the committee are addressed, the committee will choose DO PASS, DO PASS AS AMENDED, or DO NOT PASS. When the committee has voted on each proposal this way, they are ready to go to the House or Senate for debate and final voting the next day.
In the evening of the first day, the SHL delegates will attend a banquet. At the banquet they will visit with old friends, new acquaintances and their table mates. Of course, much of the discussion centers on the bills their committee worked on that day. There will be a keynote speaker, many times it will be a state elected official.
After the banquet they gather in their caucus room to “plan their strategy” for the proposals they are sponsoring. These meetings are where any problems or questions regarding the proposals are addressed. In this meeting all the people are from the same area of the state and have met with each other in prior meetings regarding the proposals. The group is generally of the same mind with respect to the proposals.
The next day the legislators meet in the House and Senate chambers in the capitol building. On this day the proposals that passed out of committee as DO PASS are voted on and then five of them are chosen as the SHL priority bills. This past year the top five bills were:
1. Restore and increase funding of Medicaid, home-delivered and congregate meals
2. Transportation – increase AAA funding
3. Raise asset level for persons on MO Healthnet - $2,000 for a single person; $3,000 for a married couple
4. Silver Alert combined with Amber Alert
5. Grandparents’ right of guardianship
After the proposals are chosen and the SHL delegates go home they advocate for these bills with their state legislators and encourage them to write and pass bills of a similar nature in the General Assembly.
The Silver Haired legislators work hard all year long advocating for senior issues. Many of our state legislators have said that they count on and look forward to the input these folks have regarding the issues with which they must deal in the General Assembly.
If you think you would be interested in running for an open seat of the SHL contact me at 573-335-3331 or 1-800-392-8771 or your local senior center and we’ll get the proper paperwork to you. The paperwork must be in this office by close of business on April 21 with the election being held at your local senior center on May 6 during regular business hours. Our address is SEMO AAA, 1219 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701.
Cape Girardeau, Missouri - "Last Call" will recognize each of the 48 fallen law enforcement officers in Southeast Missouri at the Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony Friday, May 9, 2014, 10 am, at Cape Bible Chapel in Cape Girardeau.
The Memorial to Fallen Heroes sponsored by Seniors and Lawmen Together (SALT), honors family members and protects the memory of that one person that meant so much. SALT will honor that one husband, one father, one son, one nephew, one cousin, one friend.
Last year SALT unveiled, in Cape County Park North, a memorial monument honoring 48 fallen officers with ties to Southeast Missouri. Names of the officers killed in the line of duty are etched on the stone, including their department and date of death.The memorial replaced a monument honoring fallen officers at Cape County Park North and consists of three 4 1/2-foot-tall black granite panels and a separate 2-foot-tall panel engraved with a poem about the officers.
Representatives of SALT raised the money with donations from individuals, family members of fallen officers and organizations. The Memorial to Fallen Heroes will provide family members with the assurance their loved ones are not forgotten.
The public is invited, and encouraged, to attend. Chief Wes Blair, Cape Girardeau Police Department, will be the keynote speaker.
Submitted Article to
news@showmetimes.com
Cape Girardeau, Missouri - Stacy Shore will be presenting an informational lecture on Common Core and what it will mean to our students. It will be held at the Rose Theater on the Southeast Missouri State campus at 2 pm on Sunday, March 30th.
The Rose Theater is located in the H.O. Graul Language Arts building on the campus and the address is 408 North Pacific St in Cape Girardeau MO.
Time is of the essence on this matter. Our state legislators have bills before them now to deal with this, but too many of them are in favor of this including Donna Litchennegger from Jackson (Donna personally told me that she would Vote to SUPPORT HB1490 "The Kill Common Core Bill" but now is doing something different). Also Kathy Swan from Cape Girardeau has always been supportive of Common Core and I don't believe she will support HB1490 although she's not personally told me that.
With many school board positions up for election in the beginning of April, it is also very important to support those candidates that are anti-common core so the timing of this presentation is very good. Please find out which candidates best reflect your values and get the vote out!
Thank you,
Alan Pendergrass
The views and statements expressed in the blog may or may not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or positions of the ShowMe Times. We offer a blog for people to submit information to the public.
If you know of a speaker or lecturer of an event we would like to hear about it. Submit the information to our email address at [email=news@showmetimes.com.
Submitted Article to
news@showmetimes.com
Age Spots - By Ruth Dockins
Missouri Property Tax Credit
This is the time of year when most of us think bad thoughts about taxes. However, for some folks this time of year can bring some smiles because of tax credits. One of the tax credits I don’t want you to forget is the Missouri Property Tax Credit (MoPTC) also known as “Circuit Breaker.”
The MoPTC claim gives credit to certain senior citizens and 100% disabled individuals for a portion of the real estate taxes or rent they have paid for the year. The credit is for a maximum of $750 for renters and $1,100 for owners who owned and occupied their home. The actual credit is based on the amount of real estate taxes or rent paid and total household income (taxable and nontaxable).
If you are 65 or older as of Dec. 31, 2013 or 100% disabled with total household income of $30,000 as a single person or $34,000 as a married couple and have owned and occupied your home in the state of MO the entire filing year you should apply for the rebate. Also, if you are a 100% service connected disabled veteran you do not even have to include your VA payments in the income calculation.
If you are 65 or older as of Dec. 31, 2013 or 100% disabled with total household income of $27,500 as a single person or $29,500 as a married couple and have owned your home for part of the filing year, or rented in the state of MO you should apply for the rebate. Again, if you are a 100% service connected disabled veteran you do not even have to include your VA payments in the income calculation.
One other group of people that should file are those that are 60 or older as of December 31, 2013 and received surviving spouse social security benefits, and fall into the appropriate guidelines listed above.
If you have questions regarding this information you may call me at 335-3331 or 1-800-392-8771, or go to www.dor.mo.gov
