(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The caviar class of the 'New Montana' – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'April', 'Jon Ellingson'] Date: 2023-04-15 As the 2023 is drawing to a close we can start to see the contours of the world that the Republican supermajority would have us become. It’s a world where the caviar class of Montanans will have an extra $9,000 a year to support their lifestyle. Caviar appetizers at Big Sky go for $364 an order and it’s hard to get enough of them when you’re only making $655,000 a year. Gov. Greg Gianforte gave them a big tax cut. It’s supposed to trickle down. But if you’re like most of the rest of us, maybe you’ll get enough of a tax cut to buy a few pizzas and afford a tank of gas. It’s a world where we have a huge surplus in the state account, but the governor can’t find the money to make sure that Grandpa or Grandma won’t be moved from the local nursing home that they like. Last session the state approved funding for a $2 million study by the Guidehouse organization to determine the reimbursement rate to nursing homes that is necessary to provide decent care for our elders who live there. The issue is so important because nursing homes throughout the state are closing due to inadequate funding; 11 in the last year. The implications of these closures were heartbreaking as loved ones had to be transferred far from family and friends when a facility closed. The study concluded that providers required a minimum daily reimbursement rate of $278 to cover the cost of caring for the residents and adequate compensation for the caregivers. Thus far, the funding has fallen short of the minimum level recommended by the study. It’s a world where the “Freedom Caucus” wants to put our individual right to control our own bodies under restrictions by the state. So much for “freedom.” It’s something out of George Orwell’s “1984.” No right to control our own reproductive lives. No right to make the most intimate decisions about who we are and who we want to be. The state knows better than we do. And lest I forget, the governor has failed to suggest any long-term solutions to the burden of property taxes or affordable housing crisis. Montana’s affordable housing crisis requires more than regulatory tweaks. We can’t count on the market to fix the problem. We need financial tools, direct investment, public/private partnerships, and incentives to move the needle on housing now. The governor had one bill investing in housing related infrastructure, which was killed in the House. The tools that have been used by many, many states to partner with private sector investors to build an affordable workforce and senior housing have gotten nowhere. Lawmakers have a couple of bills still moving that utilize a small slice of our coal trust dollars to finance (via a revolving loan fund) much needed affordable housing, as opposed to investing those dollars in large out of state equity and bond funds. Those investments work doubly for Montanans – building much needed housing and generating a return on our investment. We hope he will see the sense in putting real money into our housing crisis. Finally, the Republicans want to politicize the judiciary in the hope that they can bend it to their political will, compromising its sacred independence. This is quite a vision that the Republicans have for Montana. Craven to the rich and powerful; callous to our dear elders; and disrespectful to the dignity of all Montanans. Does this record really reflect the hopes that we have for our state and for the lives of ourselves and our neighbors? It doesn’t reflect mine. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/04/15/the-caviar-class-of-the-new-montana/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/