The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Montana
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Mont. Code Ann. 10-3-104(2)(c), -305(2); Title 50, ch. 1; EO 2-2021
- Issued
- 2021-02-12 Feb. 12, 2021
- Effective
- 2021-02-12 ('effective immediately') (read as 2021-02-12)
- End
- 2021-06-30 (EO 10-2021, Ex. MT-022) (read as 2021-06-30)
- In force
- Feb. 12, 2021 to June 30, 2021
- Quarters
- 2021 Q12021 Q2
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Workplace rulesOther
- Addressees
- all businesses; employers; persons generally
- Character
- recommendation only
- Collection
- Standing duties: Montana DUT-MT
Operative words
Montanans are encouraged to wear masks and should follow the best industry practices adopted by any business they visit... businesses should make reasonable efforts to develop and implement appropriate policies based on industry best practices... in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations and guidance regarding: 1) Masking;... 7) Teleworking.
Penalty
None for the business-policy and masking clauses (recommendatory); the Directive remained the operative instrument of the emergency to June 30, 2021
What it required
Recorded exactly as a recommendation: from February 12, 2021 the State's general business clause was 'should', and individuals were 'encouraged' to wear masks and 'should follow the best industry practices adopted by any business they visit'; its legal effect for employers came from the standing statutes (50-71-201; 39-71-1504) and from SB 65, approved two days earlier, under which reasonable measures consistent with 'federal, state, and local regulations and guidance' were the complete defense (27-1-1606; DUT-MT-014). The Directive kept mandatory clauses elsewhere (alcohol delivery 'must'; local government office hours 'must'; carriers 'shall not').
Retrieval noteThe Governor had conditioned the mask mandate's end on the enactment of liability protections (Ex. MT-087, secondary); SB 65 was approved Feb. 10, 2021 (DUT-MT-013). County mask, capacity and hours rules continued to May 2021 (Ex. MT-076, MT-077, MT-080, MT-081, MT-084, MT-085).