Montana labor news., 1936-04-23
OLD AGE PENSIONS
Montana Publicity Division

i AlfAaAA "a AA*AG E go
Federal government be allowed to
| stand in the road Of doing justice to
between $500 and 1000 deserving peo-
pie owe 65 years OF age in the State Of
Montana from now until the first Of
next January or perhaps for an entire
year to come?
This is the question that is facing
the Montana State Relief Commission,
the Montana Old Age Pension Commits
sion and the State Administration just
now.
The machinery for putting the old
age pension law into effect in Mon
tana is all set up, oiled and ready to
go. There are listed applications for
pensions from 6,635 persons. Those
applications have been approved. OF
the number 4,493 are men and 2,142
are women.
The County Relief Commissions have
filed their lists with the State Relief
Commission. The counties have their
share of the funds ready. The State
OF Montana has its share OF the funds
ready. The government at Washing
ton has its share OF the funds ready
and appropriated for the purpose.
The necessary legislation to put the
program into effect was passed by the
last Legislature. The bill which was
known as the Stevens bill and was
| sponsored by the representative from
Cascade county who was chairman Of
the Federal Relations Committee and
also chairman of the special commit
tee appointed to handle all the old age
pension measure, met all the require
ments of President Roosevelts special
committee on Securities legislation.
Mr.. Bane Of that department came
from Washington himself, took the
subject up with Representative Stew
ems, and gave approval to the meas
ure. We were informed that the bill
as passed by the Montana Legislature
would be used as a model for all other
states to use in their legislation on the
subject.
Last week Senator John Z. Erick-
son, administrator Of the Old Age Pen
sion law in Montana, stated that they
were ready to start operations and
that by May l the checks should be
ready for each OF the 6,635 old people
whose applications had been approved.
That would mean the payment on
May l Of $l47.136 to the army 81
nearly 1000 aged people in this state
who need that money. 1t would mean
they would have the cash to expend for
the necessities of life.
Now, however, comes word that no
provision has been made in the law
passed by the last Legislature for re-
imbursing the Federal government
where be~neficiaries Of the pension plan
leave estates that will pay back the
pension money advanced.
The law provides for instance that
an aged man or omar may have a
home. If that home does not bring
them any income, they are entitled to
their pension. But when they die, the
state has a first lien against the prop
erty they leave for reimbursement for
the money advanced as pension money
by the state.
The law, however, does lot make ex-
press provision for reimbursing the
Federal government for the half Of
the pension it has advanced unless the
law could be construed as covering
that in the return OF pension money to
the state.
Washington now asks that the law
be amended to meet this feature.
The justice OF the demand is recog-
nized generally because it would be
perfectly just if the state and counties
got theirs back that the Federal gov
eminent should too.
But it would be false economy to
call together at a cost Of 100000 a
special session OF the Legislature to
make such an amendment to the pres
ent law when there isn't a chance in a
million that there will be any bene-
ficiary Of the old age pensions die and
leave an estate that could be probated
and return any appreciable amount be-
fore January l, if the payment Of pen
sions started May |,
Administrator Erickson, Relief Ad-
ministrator Watson, Chairman Charles
P. Nevin Of the Relief Board, Cover
nor Holt, and all who have been ac-
lively working on the proposition are
of the opinion that the Washington au-
thorities will not allow this technical
ity stand in the way OF putting this
most humane and beneficient measure
into effect.