Tester visits Bozeman, talks housing

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 7/9/21

At the Rialto theater in Downtown Bozeman, Sen. Jon Tester spoke about the American Rescue Plan, of which Gallatin County received nearly $22 million, and getting Montanans back to work. He believes the key is getting vaccinated against COVID-19. “The bottom line is this: In order to fully reopen our economy, get folks back to work—fill up concert venues like this one—we will need to be getting vaccines into everybody’s arms as quickly as possible,” Tester said, as reported by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. As of July 7, only 47 percent of Gallatin County residents are fully vaccinated. Tester also touched on housing and childcare, both looming issues in the area as it grows, and promised that they would be his main focus with his discussions across the state. “I hear more about housing and child care than any other issue in the state of Montana,” Tester said at the conference. “People come up and say ‘look I’d like to go back to work but I can’t afford child care, I’d like to move to Bozeman but I can’t find a house I can afford.’”