California Senior Legislature ^Non-profits

The California Senior Legislature is a volunteer body whose primary mission is to gather ideas for legislation at the state and federal levels, craft the ideas into formal proposals, prioritize the proposals, present them to members of the Legislature or the Congress, and advocate for laws implementing the ideas. The CSL was founded largely through the efforts of Senator Henry Mello, who in 1980 requested through ACR 129 that the California Commission on Aging call a session of the Silver-Haired Legislature, a forum through which older Californians could develop their legislative priorities. In 1982 this became the California Senior Legislature and Senator Mello in SCR 44 asked that this be an annual event. The work is accomplished in an annual cycle of activity whose focus is on a four-day model legislative session held at the State Capitol in Sacramento during October during which the proposals are prioritized. Prior to the Annual session, ideas are researched and made into proposals. Following the session, the top ten state proposals and top four federal are taken to state legislators or members of Congress who are asked to author and carry appropriate bills in the Legislature or Congress.