Featured Legislation
 
Food Safety Amendment

Senator Tester authored and successfully moved forward an amendment to protect family-scale producers in the Senate's food safety bill.

Tester Amendment Agreement

Tester Amendment Agreement Summary

Letter from Supporting Organizations

 
Wall Street Reform

The Senate Banking Committee is working on a bill to reform Wall Street and end the era of "too big to fail" once and for all.

pdf small Senate Wall Street Reform Bill as introduced before the Senate Banking Committee

 
 
The Dirt Bike Bill

The Consumer Product Safety Act, which became law in 2008, resulted in unnecessary restriction of access to childrens' ATVs, dirt bikes and bicycles. Senator Tester introduced the Common Sense in Consumer Products Safety Act (S.608) in March of 2009 to rework the law so ATVs, dirt bikes, and other vehicles built specifically for older kids can stay on the market.  Click here to read Senator Tester's bill.

 
Health Care for Rural Veterans

Senator Jon Tester's Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2009 makes several sweeping improvements to service for veterans in rural america. Provisions of the bill address transportation, mental health care, research, and demonstration projects for rural veterans. It also proposes to lock in the current travel reimbursement rate for veterans who travel for health care at 41.5 cents per mile. Over his first two years in the Senate, Tester got the Veterans Administration to boost the rate from 11 cents to 41.5 cents per mile. Veterans groups, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, vocally support the legislation. Click here to read more about the bill.

 
Energy

Senator Tester is working to turn Montana's energy potential into a plan of action.  Click here to read more about his plans for energy security, affordability, and independence.

Jon Tester is also working on legislation to cut red tape and promote renewable energy.  If passed, Tester's bill will establish a new "Renewable Energy Pilot Office" in Montana and five other states to help energy developers get federal permits for renewable energy projects and transmission lines.  Click here for the text of Senator Tester's bill.

 
Farm Bill

The final version of the Farm Bill held onto a lot of good things that Montana needs and it will create new opportunities for family farmers and ranchers across the state.

The new Farm Bill includes:

  • A safety net to make sure Montana farmers and ranchers don't go bust when times are tough
  • Measures to promote renewable energy development in agriculture through incentives and assistance for bio-energy crops and wind power
  • A pilot-program sponsored by Senator Tester to provide federal crop insurance for camelina, a plant whose oil can be converted into biodiesel
  • Stronger conservation programs that focus on working lands like the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (these programs help us protect sensitive lands while improving soil, water, and air quality and keeping lands in production)
  • Steps to help fight hunger and keep Montanans healthy through improvements to various nutrition programs, including food stamps
  • A requirement that the federal government to finally implement Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), which will benefit Montana producers and consumers
 
Indian Health Care Improvement Act

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act is much needed legislation to improve health care in Indian Country. This legislation would bring Indian Health Service facilities and services up-to-date. It would create programs to address behavioral and mental health issues that have been severely neglected under the current system. And, it would begin to address the disturbing and inexcusable disparities between the health status of American Indians and the general United States population. 

This legislation also authorizes additional appropriations necessary to increase the availability of health care, develop new approaches to health care delivery, increase the flexibility of the Indian Health Service, and promote the sovereignty of American Indian Tribes. Senator Tester successfully included an amendment to the bill to encourage state, federal, and tribal law enforcement to work together to combat methamphetamine abuse in Indian Country.