Tackling the rising cost of housing in Montana together

More than 100 years ago, my grandparents made a life for our family on a homesteaded plot of land outside of Big Sandy that we still farm to this day. I’ve been blessed to call Montana home my entire life and to always have a place to rest my head after a hard day’s work. Unfortunately, finding an affordable place to live has become a challenge for far too many Montanans.

As I travel across Montana, I hear about how housing challenges are hurting working families. From Missoula to Kalispell to Bozeman, all the way to smaller communities like my hometown of Big Sandy, folks are struggling with rising costs and a shortage of affordable, accessible housing options. Across the state home prices are more than 70 percent higher today than they were just five years ago.

The issue of housing affordability impacts every Montanan. I’ve heard from seniors who worked hard and saved up their whole lives, but are now struggling with skyrocketing property taxes on the homes they have lived in for decades and raised their families in. We have hospitals and schools across our state that are unable to recruit workers because there is nowhere for our teachers, nurses, or even doctors to live. And young Montanans who want to build a family and a life in their hometowns aren’t able to afford to buy a home like their parents did, or to rent a place large enough to start a family.