Flathead officials split on bill to limit health board powers

Two Flathead County commissioners say they support a bill in the Montana House that would give elected officials the power to change or shoot down emergency rules adopted by local health boards.

The county's health officer, meanwhile, has called the legislation unnecessary and warned it could damage officials' ability to work together during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioners Randy Brodehl and Brad Abell told the Daily Inter Lake they support House Bill 121, which received a hearing Thursday. Commissioner Pam Holmquist, who sits on the Flathead City-County Board of Health, declined to state a position, saying she hadn't read the bill in its entirety.

State law currently allows local health boards to independently create and enforce public health rules in times of emergency, such as the pandemic. Those actions can include requiring people to self-isolate or quarantine, as well as restrictions on travel and commerce intended to limit the spread of communicable diseases.

Although members of health boards are appointed by elected officials, proponents of HB-121 say those unelected officials should not have the final say on public health edicts. The bill would give city councils and county commissioners the power to amend or rescind those rules. Opponents say the measure would further politicize efforts to mitigate disease and allow elected officials to stall or override efforts by scientists and public health experts.

"This would allow us to step in and change things that we really believe need to be changed," said Brodehl, a former state representative. "The public health officer isn’t elected. We are. Because we are a government of the people, it’s important that every decision that comes out of government filters to us first."

Brodehl also said he believes the bill would strengthen relationships between the health department and the commissioners because "it would require more dialogue."

Abell, a former heavy-equipment operator who began his first term on the commission this month, echoed that and said he's concerned about the impact of public health restrictions on local businesses.

"I don’t like to see the power to shut down our businesses go to one person," Abell said, referring to the powers of the county health officer. "I think elected officials should be where the buck stops. It’s our responsibility to make sure the community is healthy and that businesses stay open."

SEVEN MEMBERS of the Flathead City-County Board of Health are appointed by the county commissioners, one member is Commissioner Holmquist, and the ninth member is appointed by the city of Kalispell. Whitefish city leaders are in talks about permanent representation on the board.

Joe Russell, who led the Flathead City-County Health Department from 1998 until his retirement in 2017, reprised his role as the county's health officer last month following the resignation of acting Health Officer Tamalee Robinson, who had criticized the Board of Health for failing to enact measures to fight the coronavirus. Some board members, including Dr. Annie Bucacek, have openly questioned the death rate of COVID-19 and the science showing masks help slow coronavirus transmission.

In an interview, Russell, who was rehired as health officer with unanimous approval from the Board of Health, called HB-121 "unnecessary" and a "reactionary" response to the pandemic that could impact relations between the health department and other local officials.

"I don't mind statutes that build relationships, but this one doesn't do that. It subordinates," Russell said. "So long as the health officer has a strong relationship with commissioners, I don’t think this bill is necessary."

Russell also pointed out that, by law, the health board already has to include one of the county commissioners, meaning they "already have a seat at the table."

THE BILL comes after months of angst among some Montana residents over what they have called arbitrary and unfair health mandates that have led some businesses to close. Some local health officials in Montana have resigned after encountering a lack of support from elected officials for their efforts to curb the virus.

Cindi Hamilton, an owner of a horseback riding business, testified Thursday that many small businesses have been "completely killed by the whim of power-drunk county health officers."

Gallatin County Health Officer Matt Kelley said the pandemic has led to "traumatic, excruciating adversity" for local health officers and boards of health.

"It is somewhat painful and discouraging to hear those efforts demonized by people who are calling us 'power thirsty' because the people who go into public health and the people who volunteer to serve on boards of health are almost always motivated by the spirit of public service," Kelley said.

Kelley noted that city and county governing bodies appoint local health board members and have the power to remove them.

"If what we're after is local control, [it] already exists in every county in the state of Montana," he said.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, said the purpose of the bill is not to strip local health officials of power but to instill more public confidence in their decisions.

"Some will say that matters of public health should be left exclusively to the experts because elected officials often lack scientific expertise," Bedey said. "But this is contrary to the principles that underlie our constitutionally based, representative democracy, whereby we have chosen to be governed by fellow citizens whom we elect to office."

THE HOUSE Local Government Committee is expected to vote on the bill in the coming week. It could face vocal opposition from Democrats, though they are outnumbered in both chambers of the Legislature.

"Public health authorities are experts that allow for our local communities and local economies to respond to public health threats, and politicizing that seems like a dangerous precedent to set," Rep. Kim Abbott, the Democratic minority leader from Helena, said during a call with reporters last Tuesday. "So, at first blush, I think that we'd be opposed to that."

Several Republican lawmakers have worked on bills similar to HB-121.

Henry Kriegel, who leads the Montana branch of Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian advocacy group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, said he supports the "essence" of Bedey's bill but testified against it on Thursday. Kriegel said he had been working on a similar piece of legislation with Rep. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.

"There is a more comprehensive bill, dealing with these very issues, that should be forthcoming within the next week," Kriegel said.

Regier didn't respond to messages seeking comment Friday. The Legislature's website showed he was drafting a bill with the working title "Revise County Health Board and County Health Officer."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com