Working towards a bright future

Happy Spring! I hope everyone has been enjoying this beautiful weather and had a lovely St. Patrick's Day. My family always celebrates this time of year with corned beef and cabbage and I take this opportunity to teach my son Carter, who is now 12 years old, stories about our family who came from Ireland, ranchers in the southwest Montana Territory, and steel mill workers in Ohio and later in Seattle. Those stories I hope will teach him about hard work and caring for neighbors.

The economy has taken a major hit. As you likely have heard, Democrats in the US Congress and President Joe Biden have passed the COVID American Rescue Plan. The bill will provide urgent and targeted funding to beat the virus and provide workers and families the money they need to survive the pandemic while the vaccine is distributed to everyone. Just a few areas that should see significant impact are:

• Rural Healthcare: more vaccines, telehealth and more facilities and health workers

• Montana's children through schools and childcare businesses

• Mental health and domestic violence relief

• Low-income assistance for rent and heat

• Broadband expansion

• Construction and infrastructure

• And much more

Literally as we speak, lawmakers in Helena are working to address these major expenditures of taxpayer dollars in responsible ways. I will do my very best to advocate on your behalf. Do not hesitate to email me at shannonformontana@gmail.com or call me (or text) on my cell phone at 406-274-3805 if you have concerns or ideas. By working together, our future is bright.