Senators: Jobs Bill already pumping millions into Montana housing

$23 million will prevent homelessness, improve housing in Montana

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Montana is already receiving millions of dollars to keep families in their homes thanks to the Jobs Bill recently passed by Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester.

Nearly $23 million will go directly to the State of Montana and all seven Indian reservations to prevent families from becoming homeless and to improve housing. The funding is part of the $626 million Montana is receiving from the Jobs Bill.

Both Baucus and Tester played key roles in writing the Jobs Bill, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The senators said the money will be used to keep Montana families from becoming homeless. Money going to Tribes in Montana can be used to address shovel-ready housing projects that have been neglected by federal budgets of the past eight years.

The Jobs Bill money announced today for Montana housing breaks down as follows:

• MT Tax Credit Assistance Program: $7,818,360
• Montana Homelessness Prevention: $3,731,327
• Blackfeet Indian Reservation: $2,672,486
• Crow Indian Reservation: $1,199,986
• Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation: $1,074,613
• Ft. Peck Indian Reservation: $2,321,872
• Northern Cheyenne Reservation: $1,343,929
• Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation: $1,074,791
• Flathead Indian Reservation: $1,722,057
• TOTAL: $22,959,421

“This is good news for Montana families who have been hardest hit during this economic dowturn,” said Baucus, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. “This funding for Montana will go a long way in investing in people and turning our economy around.”

“Dollars are already getting to where they can do some good, and that’s exactly why Max and I supported the Jobs Bill,” said Tester, a member of the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. “After years of failed policies that put our economy in the ditch, it’s time to get our economy back on track.”