Bullock: Montanans have to work together to save recovery

Montana Gov. Steve Bull0ck said in a press conference Tuesday that Montana's economic recovery and opening policies are in danger due to a minority of people who won't act to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"Our economic recoveries are at risk by Montanans and businesses not following the restrictions that we have in place," Bullock said. "Montana is not alone, as we continue to see an alarming amount of new cases each day. Over the past week nearly every state has seen an increase in cases and the majority of states have seen a seven-day high or peak, but we can do things in Montana in a way to get rid of this virus and that means that businesses and Montanans again looking out for one another by playing by the same rules, which are the ones we already have in place.

"There are businesses that are already doing everything right," he added. "They care about their health care workers, the customers they serve and their larger community. They care about their own workforce and not wanting to find their workers without a job by having to close down from not following the rules or introducing cases into their establishments."

  He said it's not the Montana way for businesses that are doing things right to have to close their doors because of the bad actors who aren't taking the necessary steps to minimize the virus spread. 

The Montana way is slowing the virus spread, he said, and it's a good thing for the entire community if we do so.

Slowing the spread keeps schools open, which keeps parents in the workforce, which keeps those parents spending money to businesses and so on, he added.

"Every Montanan is stepping up right now to slow the spread and will begin to reduce the strain that we're seeing on our health care workers," Bullock said.

Emergency Room Nurse Charlotte Skinner from St. Peter's Hospital in Helena said the issue is not a political one. People need to work together to slow the spread of the virus.

"The past eight months or so has been really stressful, challenging and full of day-to-day uncertainty," Skinner said. "This is how we feel, but as health care workers whose responsibility is the lives of our families, friends and neighbors - this burden has felt huge."

A lot of their job stressors are just magnified, she said, as they learn how to do CPR in head to toe personal protective equipment, or they learn new methods on how to put patients on ventilators while the doctor's hands are inside a plastic box or as they have to explain to another tearful family member that they can't visit right now, but they will hold the phone up for a Facetime call.

"We come from a huge variety of backgrounds, political, socioeconomic statuses, religions, but we've always found a common ground to stand on and that common ground is called science - evidence-based practice and a patient-first mentality," she said. 

She said she has never and never will run into the room of a patient in distress and ask them how they vote, adding that instead she stands shoulder to shoulder with her health care team as they work tirelessly to save lives.

"People in health care don't discriminate and neither does this virus," Skinner said. "I am asking you today to stop segregating yourselves into maskers and anti-maskers, and to stand with us on the common ground of science and evidence, which is clearly telling us that masking works. We must do it consistently, diligently and the majority of us need to participate, but if we can do this it does make a difference.

"We need your help Montana," she added. "Our hospitals are reaching a breaking point. We are on the brink of seeing a surge capacity like we have never seen before and make no mistake this will affect our ability to provide the best possible care by masking, hand washing, social distancing and following other public safety guidelines we can prevent this from happening, so please we are asking stand with us, stand against this virus."

Vaccination plan submitted

Bullock's said the state submitted a draft vaccination plan to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.

"We're in the process of forming a vaccine coordination team, which will serve as an advisory group of experts to assist the Department of Public Health and Human Services with refining the vaccination plan ensuring that folks on the ground are ready to hit the ground running on Day One," Bullock said.

The team will include representatives from hospital, rural health clinics, local health departments, tribal governments, long-term care and correctional facilities, pharmacies, businesses, educational agencies, churches, organizations that serve ethnic minority groups, community representatives and more.

"We're not new to vaccine distribution, in fact we've been working on improving our last go around to be prepared for the next event in Montana," he said. "In 2009, we executed the H1N1 vaccination plan, since that time I've worked on improvement plans as well as working with local jurisdictions to hold full-scale exercises."

He said information about the ongoing process to prepare for vaccination distribution will soon be posted and updated on the http://covid19.mt.gov website.

As people learn more about a vaccine in the future, he said, the state will continue to take the input from Montana experts, readily adapt the plan and ensure the state can begin implementing the phases for vaccination distribution as soon as possible.

"But until that time, we must also keep focusing on our current situation Montana and continue to address the challenges that lie ahead of us," Bullock said. "One of the most efficient tools we have to support the Montana economy is through unemployment benefits for Montanans. Unemployment benefits have put money into the pockets of Montanans to pay their rent or mortgage to keep their homes warm and put food on the table during this emergency."

Aid helping with economic recovery

Benefits have injected dollars into communities and have brought stability to local economies across the state, Bullock said.

He said when individuals receive unemployment benefits, they can continue to support local businesses to stop job losses from spreading to other industries.

The Montana Department of Labor and Industry has now paid more than $1 billion in benefits to more than 100,000 Montanans since the pandemic began, he said.

"For every dollar distributed in unemployment benefits there is $1.90 economic output," Bullock said. "... The economic activity generated from UI benefits translates roughly 4 percent of Montana's gross domestic product, replaces estimated 5 percent of wage earnings statewide that would've been paid this year. It's clear that access to UI benefits served as a lifeline to Montanans and played an instrumental role in Montana's economic recovery.

"Additional dollars in the community contributed to Montana's steadily decreasing unemployment rate, which we announce today as a return to a near normal of 5.3 percent through September that's lower than the national average currently of 7.9 percent," he added.

He said that in September the total unemployment posted strong employment gains of 4,250 over the month.

Total employment has regained more than 48,000 jobs since the April recession low, he said. 

Montana has been the seventh-best state in job performance during the COVID-19 recession, he added.

"In Montana, we've taken significant actions to not only maintain, but further the progress we've made," Bullock said. "A couple weeks ago I committed $200 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds to replenish the UI trust fund and ensure these benefits will continue to be paid to workers and families in need as we continue to navigate the virus and its economic impacts."

In addition to preserving benefits, he said, this effort prevented Montana businesses from having to pay rate increases of at least 85 percent.

He said about 97 percent of total CARES Act allocation has committed and more than $723 million has been awarded. 

The Business Stabilization grant program alone supported more than 10,000 businesses, he said.

More than 14,000 businesses and nonprofits have received support from the state's coronavirus funds, he said.

"More than 1,200 families and individuals have received mortgage and/or rental assistance allowing those Montanans to keep up with their monthly rent or mortgage payments, and remain safely in their homes," Bullock said. "We know things have changed rapidly over the last several months and could well change again, but economic data suggests that our state is on a long-term path of restoring and expanding economic growth. 

"Yet, that stable recovery that economists predict is a great risk in at least two ways right now," he added. "First, while we've worked diligently to get folks backed to work make sure that the lights of businesses stay on and shore up our trust fund to provide regular UI benefits. Our progress toward economic recovery is certainly in jeopardy without action by Congress."

He said in addition to the expiration of loss wages assistance funding, Americans are beginning to exhaust benefits and many federal programs that allowed more people to access benefits such as people who are self-employed are set to expire at the end of this year.

Unfortunately, Congress has been able to come to the table to provide the continued relief that's needed now, he said, and certainly will be as people continue to tackle this virus well into the future.

This leaves a lot of unknown for workers, should they find themselves temporarily out of work or businesses should they temporarily close their doors, he added. 

Bullock said he will be holding another press call later this week.