Advocacy

In the last legislature, the state’s monopoly utility companies were working the halls of the capitol trying to raise rates on Missourians. AARP Missouri fought back and won. Even now, these same companies are arguing in front of the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) to try to raise rates through regulation – and AARP Missouri is there, fighting for you. For years, monopoly utility companies in Missouri have had bill paying stations located on-site at predatory payday lenders. It was a win-win for utilities and payday lenders because it meant utilities were more likely to be paid and Missourians on fixed incomes were more likely to take out payday loans to cover those bills – and pay triple digit interest rates on those loans. AARP has been fighting to stop this predatory practice for a long time. This year, the PSC sided with Missouri consumers and took the utility pay stations out of payday loan locations. That’s a win for every Missourian!

By Alan Greenblatt

AARP is teaming with the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis to present a Vice Presidential watch party and Social Security policy discussion on October 4 beginning at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place at the Fox-Clark Forum in Hillman Hall on the Danforth Campus located at the corner of Forsyth Blvd. and Hoyt Drive.

Seniors Count of Greater St. Louis is a local initiative supported by a coalition of community organizations and eldercare agencies. The mission of Seniors Count is to address the quickly growing gap between the needs of seniors and available resources in our community. Our population is rapidly aging, especially as the Baby Boomer generation reaches retirement age. Perhaps you have heard of this as the “silver tsunami”; by 2030, the number of people age 65 and older in St Louis is projected to increase by 15,000 every year. In the next three decades, the number of people in that senior set will jump by 77 percent to almost 300,000 people. Census figures from 2014 show the St Louis area had the eighth highest percentage of older people in the country, at 14.9 percent, and by 2045 it is projected that a full quarter of the region’s population with be 65 or older.

Founder and director of Sage Metro St. Louis Sherrill Wayland was recently honored as the 2016 Dennis W. Hostetler Advocate of the Year during the “All That Jazz” summer celebration on June 12. The event was sponsored by SAGE of PROMO Fund and held at The Focal Point and Maya Café in Maplewood.

AARP’s annual policy solicitation process is open through July 31. Feedback from members and volunteers—on policies to support AARP's social impact priorities of health security, financial resilience and personal fulfillment—is critical to ensuring AARP policies are forward-looking and flexible enough to fulfill our social mission across 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

At a time when our country is extremely polarized, family caregiving is a rare issue that unites us. It isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It’s a family issue that affects us all. If you’re not a caregiver now, you will be one or will need one in the future.

Caregiving, financial resilience, utility rate hikes, and voting rights were top of the ticket issues for the 2016 Missouri General Assembly - and AARP Missouri was in the thick of it all. Whether legislation was voted up or down, AARP Missouri was fighting for members and their families on legislation that matters.

Volunteers from across the state, which included “Speak Out!” speakers bureau volunteers, and the newly formed Action Council that supports advocacy issues and policy issues, met in Columbia February 6th and 7th.

Advocacy Wrap-up