Liberal news website The Huffington Post thinks Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) is just hilarious after making a zombie joke on his Facebook page. But while Gov. Bullock jokes about zombies, park area communities don’t find the shutdown of their parks to be a laughing matter.
Actual post from Gov. Bullock’s Facebook page:
Look, I’m all in favor of politicians using a little humor, but when eastern Montana is struggling from a lack of infrastructure, and Montanans across the state are being locked out of supposedly “public” lands- it hardly seems like the right time to be making zombie jokes.
In fact, State Sen. Majority Leader Art Wittich (R-Bozeman) is telling Governor Steve Bullock to get to work.
From The Missoulian:
In a letter to Bullock late Friday, Senate Majority Leader Art Wittich of Bozeman said that federal agencies, “citing questionable legal authority,” have locked the public out of federal facilities in Montana. These include Yellowstone National Park and its West Yellowstone gateway, which is in his district.
Wittich urged Bullock to contact U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to coordinate how state personnel and resources can go “to unlock these lands so that the public can once again use their facilities.”
“The state has a budget surplus, and you have discretionary funds, for just such an occasion,” Wittich wrote.
Putting the national parks and federal access sites aside, the Governor jokes about having money to defend the state from zombies, while Eastern Montana struggles with infrastructure needs.
In fact, the lack of infrastructure has even caught the attention of Bloomberg News reporting from Fairview, Montana:
The prairie community straddles the state line with North Dakota and needs a new water tank, improvements to its sewage treatment plant and curbs and gutters. The price tag: $14.4 million — five times the city’s $2.7 million budget.
Governor Steve Bullock vetoed a bill in May that would have provided $35 million for eastern Montana communities to build new facilities. Lawmakers say waiting until the next legislative session in 2015 to address growth will force additional costs onto existing residents, many of whom live on fixed incomes. A spokesman for the governor couldn’t be reached yesterday.
“I’m very concerned that waiting another year and a half is going to put these communities in a tougher spot,” said state Representative Austin Knudsen, a Republican from Culbertson. “You really have no choice but to go to your ratepayers and ask them to pay more. That’s the situation we’re in and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse.”
Andy Johnson
Monday, October 14, 2013 3:43 PM
Why should be expect anything different. The demos lead by punishment. The War memorials on the Mall. Locking tour bus people in their rooms at Yellowstone. Vetoing $35 milllion for infrastructure improvements in eastern Montana. “The floggings will continue until the moral improves.” That’s the limit of their leadership. We have another opportunity to right a whole bunch of wrongs a year from now.
EAJ
Butte