Letter to the Editor - Golden Spike should follow the rules

Editor,

Shame on you Heidi Hill for praising a business that is not following our governor’s legal and constitutional directives. Not only are his directives not illegal, our state’s Constitution has granted him use of emergency powers. The governor has general direction and control of the emergency resources management within this state and all officers, boards, agencies, individuals, or groups established under the emergency resources management plan.

Gov. Bullock issued Executive Orders 2-2020 and 3-2020 declaring that a state of emergency exists in Montana due to the global outbreak of COVID-19. So, right there, he now has the right to make directives till the emergency passes to protect the welfare of the people in this state. I, for one, applaud what he has done so far, because with his direction Montana has not had the outbreaks neighboring states have had. I do question if he opened the state up too soon given the increase in cases lately, but only time will tell. Plus he could always revert us back down to Phase 1 or even complete closure again if things get too bad. Gov. Bullock has that authority. The only way for the Legislative branch to change that is for them to pass a bill that would limit the amount of time a governor can use his emergency powers.

I personally believe The Golden Spike should fall in line and follow the rules or face the consequences. The world is a changing place and we all need to be flexible enough to bend with it.

Scott Guyant

Havre