Older Montanans Trust Fund: Senate Debate Today
by: Sen. Carol Williams
We’re going to debate The Older Montanans Trust Fund, SB155, today on the Senate floor.
I am carrying this legislation at the request of Governor Schweitzer. He has recognized that we need long-range planning for an aging population. The Trust will help Montana prepare for the growing demand of senior services.
What does this bill do?
SB155 creates the Older Montanans Trust Fund, a savings account that will help our state prepare for the growing demand of senior services. Interest from the trust fund will be appropriated by the legislature when there is $20 million or by the year 2015.
What will it fund?
By 2015, the trust fund will expand senior services like in-home meals, home health and personal care, support for family caregivers, and transportation services for seniors. With interest from the trust, Montana can look to new innovative programs that will allow all of us to age in our homes and make our communities more livable for seniors. (more…)
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Opening the Gates
by: Sen. Carol Williams
In 1866, when my ancestors, Zaddock and Almira Allen, drove an oxen-powered wagon across mountains and prairies to come to Montana, to settle just a few miles from here in Jefferson City, they could never have imagined that female offspring of theirs would one day be given the opportunity to serve in the Montana senate, let alone be elected to be the first woman to serve as Majority Leader in the Montana Senate.
On the other hand, as a young woman coming of age in the 60’s, in Butte, I can’t conceive of why that took so long. (more…)
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