Missoula Mask Mandate Ends: Health Board Rebuked By State Legislature
By Roy McKenzie
Governor Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 257 on Friday invalidating city and county mask mandates and capacity restrictions created by health officers and city leaders in the City of Whitefish, Missoula County, and Gallatin County.
Introduced by Jedediah Hinkle (R) of Gallatin County, HB257 amends state code to limit the authority of local health officers to compel businesses to act as foot-soldiers for their ordinances and resolutions. It also amends code to define limits to the duration of directives and mandates made during an emergency. Health officers also may no longer “interfere with or otherwise limit” a persons attendance or operation of a religious facility or church.
When writing ordinances and resolutions, health officers and municipal and county leaders may not:
- compel a private business to deny a customer access
- deny a customer of a private business the ability to access goods
- revoke a businesses license for non-compliance
When writing state disaster and emergency plans the state may not:
- compel a private business to deny a customer access
- deny a customer of a private business the ability to access goods
Amendments in the updated code include provisions to allow the state to compel a business to deny a customer access if the customer is confirmed to have a communicable disease. The law does not limit a private businesses ability to continue requiring customers to wear masks before entering. But they can no longer claim that the state or county made them do it.
Check out screenshots below and go read the text for yourself. Mask Burning Party, when?
[…] Center has been lock-step in its hype around masking, using the masks as a fundraising tool since Governor Steve Bullock and Missoula City-County Health Director Ellen Leahy shutdown public events, gatherings, businesses and community events in Missoula and throughout […]
[…] Missoula County Board of Health called an emergency meeting last Friday after Governor Greg Gianforte signed HB 257 into law, rebuking the health officers authority and retroactively ending illegal health orders against […]
Thank you governor Gianforte for lifting the ridiculous mask mandate. The power hungry uninformed employees at the health department are killing businesses in this town with their ridiculous mask mandate. Obviously no common sense in that department. But you know they were getting their paycheck every week.
Thank God someone with some come Spence. I listened in the peck of this crap but we now have shots given to most of our population so THANK YOU
Love our new Governor and how much he is standing up for our individual rights!
Now it’s time to test the local businesses. And let’s share our experiences, good and bad.