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JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- For the 37th time since 1975, the Silver Haired Legislature has convened in Jefferson City.

This group of seniors advocating for seniors has the ear of the true legislature on a variety of issues.

This advocacy group meets every year to establish a priority list of senior issues.  They have influenced laws on elder abuse, nursing home reform, consumer fraud and, more recently, end of life decisions and payday loans.

Their concerns are rarely ignored.

"There are one million plus seniors over the age of 65 in the state of Missouri,” SHL President Bruce Yampolsky said. “And I'm reminding elected officials throughout the state that seniors vote.”

By law, the lieutenant governor is the official ombudsman for seniors. He knows there biggest concern is money for services such as meals and transportation. Missouri tax revenues are down 20 percent since 2008.

"We do not expect to see 2008 revenues again until 2014,” Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said. “And it may be 2015.”

Kinder defended his lawsuit against federal healthcare reform, citing a special protection given to seniors in Florida for the Medicare advantage program.

“All of us Americans are entitled to equal protection of the law,” Kinder said. “Well, how can it be equal protection of the law to say that citizens who reside in certain favored zip codes get to keep their Medicare Advantage, but the citizens of 49 other states are denied.”

The lieutenant governor also put the lie to the stereotype of a senior afraid of technology. He said people over 55 are the fast growing users of social networking websites.

"This demographic indicated a 90-percent growth in Facebook usage in just one year, an indicator of how we must learn new outreach technologies,” Kinder said.

Kinder also presented Pat Donohue of Jefferson City with an award for service to seniors.

The Silver-Haired legislature will meet Thursday at the Capitol to set its priorities for 2011. Gov. Jay Nixon is scheduled to address the group in the morning.