Montana governor signs bill limiting power of health boards

By IRIS SAMUELS Associated Press/Report for America
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed a bill limiting the power of local public health boards to issue mandates in response to emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic. Some Republicans say unelected health officers overstepped their authority in the pandemic response. The new law allows for local elected officials such as county commissioners to change or rescind health mandates. Also Friday, Gianforte signed a bill limiting the governor's ability to spend federal funding received during emergencies. Republicans criticized former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock last year for allocating federal coronavirus relief funding without consulting the Republican-controlled Legislature.

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Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.