Silver Haired Legislature session is a good one
Two bills or resolutions passed unanimously, with 100-percent approval, in the 2003 Silver Haired Legislature, held in Topeka Oct. 8-10, Gene Andersen said.
Andersen, of Peabody, represented Marion County in the SHL for a fifth straight year.
The bills that won unanimous support were:
— One supporting increased youth volunteer service during school years. It would ask the Kansas Department of Education to make performance of some volunteer community service a mandatory requirement for graduation from all Kansas high schools.
Andersen said any kind of community service would "do," but emphasis was on services youth could perform that would aid or involve seniors, too.
— A bill urging increased funding support for and expansion of existing work training and retraining programs for elderly Kansans.
Other bills call for:
— Assistance for grandparents who are raising grandchildren.
— Sales-tax, or compensating-use tax, proceeds from e-commerce (Internet sales and business deals) for the Health Care for Seniors Fund.
Silver Haired Legislators seek a 5-percent tax on these transactions. A large majority of the SHL voted in favor of this proposal, Andersen said.
— Raising of the Homestead Property Tax maximum refund from $600 per year to $1,000.
One in three Marion Countians is a senior citizen, Andersen said. And 27 percent of those people, or about 9 percent of county residents, are eligible for the Homestead
Refund.
If the Kansas Legislature does raise the maximum refund amount, it will probably be done in increments, Andersen said, not the entire $400 increase all at once.
Many people are hurting financially, living on fixed incomes, some on Social Security payments alone, he said.
A bill on Home Health Care was carried over from the 2002 SHL. "People are on waiting lists to receive these badly-needed services," Andersen said.
Another matter carried over from last year was a proposal to freeze valuation of real property when its owner becomes 65 years of age. This would help people somewhat in keeping pace with inflation, Andersen said.
A proposal seeking a sales tax levy on food purchases failed, Andersen said.
All in all, this year's SHL session "went very well, I thought," he said.
Andersen is in the middle of his third two-year term as an SHL. He will serve again in 2004, then decide whether to seek another term.
"I enjoy it. It's very educational. You meet a lot of interesting people," he said.
The SHL is a body of individuals 60 and older, elected by their peers to develop bills and resolutions of interest to Kansas seniors and their families each year.
A summary of the bills and resolutions passed by the 2003 SHL is on the Web at http://www.aging kansas.org/kdoa/Silver-haired.htm. You can e-mail the SHL at silverhaired@aging.state. ks.us or telephone 785-368-7326.
