Issue Position: Quality of Life and Independence

Issue Position

Staying active and involved in the community is a key to ensuring independence and quality of life for seniors. Jon is a longstanding supporter of the Retired and Volunteer Service Program, the Foster Grandparent Program, and the Senior Companion Program. These programs-collectively known as the Senior Corps-should never be on the chopping block.
Many seniors depend on resources like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to heat their homes in the wintertime. When cuts were proposed to the program in 2011, Jon led the charge to avoid leaving Montana seniors in the cold.
To help seniors make ends meet in tough economic times, Jon supported a one-time $250 Social Security payment to beneficiaries who missed out on a cost-of-living payment.
Research is the key to finding cures for degenerative diseases which impair the well-being of many late in life. Jon is an outspoken advocate for disease research, having cosponsored bills to promote research on diseases like arthritis (S.626), Alzheimer's (S.1492), breast cancer (S.384), diabetes (S.1468), multiple sclerosis (S.Res.396), ovarian cancer (S.2569), pancreatic cancer (S.362), and prostate cancer (S.Res.597). He also introduced his own bill to ensure cross-agency collaboration on prostate cancer research (S.1190).
With one in four Montana seniors suffering from abuse, Senator Tester is making sure Montanans have the tools they need to protect the state's elderly population. Jon is a cosponsor of the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act (S.2077) to make it easier to report elder abuse and make sure senior service organizations are looking for signs of abuse and neglect.
Unfortunately, all too often seniors are the target of financial fraud and identity theft. As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Tester helped pass Wall Street reform, which protects investors with tough new rules for transparency and accountability.
Unemployment rates for older workers are at historic highs, and once older workers lose their jobs, they face much longer periods of unemployment than younger workers. Age discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission jumped by nearly 30 percent between 2007 and 2008. Senator Tester cosponsored the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (S.2189) to treat employment discrimination based on age the same as discrimination based on race, gender, or any other factor.

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