BILLINGS - The Montana Legislature has been discussing a bill to help families of law enforcement officers, who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Since 1878, 134 Montana law enforcement officers have died while on the job, the most recent being Gallatin County Deputy Jake Allmendinger who died in 2019.
Senate Bill 294, the "End Of Watch Trust" bill, would help families of fallen officers and those who have suffered catastrophic injuries.
State Sen. Barry Usher, R-Billings, is working with families in hopes of passing legislation that would help those families through their financial struggles.
"I just have a picture of Jake and our three kids holding hands walking into that restaurant and I don't know what prompted me to take that photo but I am so very thankful that I did," Monica Allmendinger said.
That day in October 2019 was Monica Allmendinger's birthday. Her husband Jake Allmenginger died when he tried to get out of a sliding vehicle on an icy road while responding to a welfare check.
"I received a letter in the mail about a week after Jake had passed stating that I no longer was going to be covered on the health insurance," Allmendinger said.
"I kind of thought that was kind of callous," Usher said.
Usher comes from a law enforcement background and says in some states, the spouse gets the paycheck for life.
So Usher sponsored the bill, which will help families for five years with health insurance, mortgage payments, and other monthly expenses.
"That's what I think we should do because these people put their lives on the line every day when they go to work," Usher said. "Nobody ever knows if they're going to actually come home."
Usher has been working with Allmendinger and Jodi Moore who lost her husband, Deputy Mason Moore, in 2017 after he was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Broadwater County.
"I received the letter the same week Mason was killed and it was dated the day after he was killed," said Jodi Moore.
"They will put themselves between you and a bullet and we need to compensate their families for that because if it wasn't for them, we would have chaos in this country," Usher said.
"Jake was my best friend, my soulmate," Allmendinger said. "Like I said, the sole provider for our family. It's been very difficult without him again, not only for me, but my children also lost their dad."
