For almost 50 years, the Silver Haired Legislature has been valuable in promoting advocacy for Missouri’s senior citizens.

When Bellflower resident Laura Burnham found out about the organization seven years ago, she didn’t waste any time joining.

“Ever since I moved to Missouri, I’ve been looking for some way to get involved,” Burnham said. “I actually saw a newspaper ad wanting board members in the Northeast Missouri area. So I became a board member and a Silver Haired Legislature delegate.”

Burnham is the delegation chairperson for the Northeast Missouri area, which includes Montgomery, Lincoln, Warren and Pike counties. She has been on the Silver Haired Legislature board for four years. Recently, she was elected treasurer.

Burnham is the only Montgomery County resident on the Silver Haired Legislature board.

“So often we hear about what’s going on in Kansas City and St. Louis,” said Burnham, who moved to Montgomery County from California in 2011. “The rural areas need to have their voice spoken as well. So we worked on issues like increased transportation and broadband access that are critical in our rural areas.”

On Oct. 18-20, Burnham was one of 65 delegates who attended the 49th Annual Silver Haired Legislature Conference at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City.

“We had an amazing speaker who talked about Alzheimer’s and the state’s Alzheimer’s Task Force,” Burnham said. “We had the Lt. Governor (Mike Kehoe) speak to us. He’s very supportive of senior issues. Then, there was networking at the capitol because you meet delegates – rural and urban – from around the state. You get to share ideas. You really get to debate the pros and cons of issues.”

During the conference, the delegates discussed issues that were their top five priorities for the 2023 legislative session – no income tax of Social Security income, real estate tax relief for seniors, absentee and early voting for seniors, increasing the Medicaid asset level and authorizing the Department of Health and Senior Services to include training in licensure for health facilities accepting dementia patients.

Burnham said the 10 SHL agencies in Missouri propose bills and write them out before a bills committee reviews them and sends up to 25 on to all of the agencies.

“This year, they sent on 20 bills,” Burnham said. “Then, we meet in our own committees. I’m on the health committee. We discuss those and see if we want to send those on. So it keeps wiggling down to the most important. On the very last day, we go over all of the bills that both the House and Senate have passed and we pick those top five.”

The Silver Haired Legislature was founded in 1973. It is composed of 15 volunteers from each of the 10 agencies. Burnham said she had some jitters when she first joined the SHL in 2015.

“The first year, I was scared to death,” she said. “We go into the capitol and we sit at the desks of the Representatives and Senators. It’s kind of intimidating to be in that big room when you think, ‘I’m just a little person. What can I do?’ Over the years, I have learned that it’s OK to stand up and say what you want.”

Burnham said the Northeast Missouri agency needs more delegates. So far, there are only three in the Northeast Missouri group.

“We need to do whatever we can to get more people involved,” Burnham said. “I recently spoke at a luncheon at the First United Methodist Presbyterian Church. I will be going, as well as the rest of the delegates, to try to get some other people involved. I got a lead for two more people who might join our delegation. But we have room for more. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”

For more information, contact Burnham at 573-929-3642 or lauraburnham@windstream.net.