Tester Secures More Than $6.4 Million for Rail Workforce Development at MSU

Funding will come from Senator’s bipartisan infrastructure law, 2023 and 2024 government funding bills

Continuing his efforts to promote workforce development at Montana’s colleges and universities, U.S. Senator Jon Tester recently secured $6,426,925 for a proposed program at Montana State University that will focus on increasing faculty, student, and youth engagement with rail-related topics and skillsets in order to promote rail workforce development. The grant was awarded through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program, which was funded by Tester’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.

Tester wrote the bipartisan infrastructure law with five Republicans and four Democrats, and was the only member of Montana’s congressional delegation to vote for the bill. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester negotiated the 2023 and 2024 appropriations bills. He was the only member of Montana’s congressional delegation to vote for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

“In a rapidly growing state like Montana where infrastructure is vital for connectivity and public safety, it’s critical that we are training up the next generation of steelworkers, mechanics, and engineers,” said Tester. “I’m proud to have secured this funding to develop a new program at MSU that will not only prepare young Montanans to enter the rail workforce, but also create a pipeline to help the rail industry hire top-notch talent right here at home.” 

The proposed program will offer multidisciplinary rail workforce capacity-building activities focused on increasing faculty, student, and youth engagement with rail-related topics and skillsets. The project will facilitate enhanced coordination between industry, labor, economic development, and education sectors; increase professional capacity of faculty and teachers in rail topics; expand early career exposure and student engagement with rail-focused content and problem-solving; and strengthen local talent pipelines. 

Tester has long championed workforce development programs in Montana. In August, Tester secured key provisions for career training in the 2025 government funding bill, including $110 million for YouthBuild, which provides job training and leadership development for Montana youth, and $1.76 billion for Job Corps.

Tester secured significant wins for Montana in the IIJA, including $2.82 billion for Montana’s roads, highways and bridges; $2.5 billion to complete all authorized Indian water rights settlements; $1 billion to complete all authorized rural water projects through the Bureau of Reclamation; $65 billion to deploy broadband to areas across the country that lack internet access and additionally make online connectivity affordable; and $3.37 billion to reduce wildfire risk nationwide, among others. Tester also worked to ensure that all iron, steel, and construction materials used for these projects must be made in America. The IIJA is projected to create more than 800,000 American jobs.