The Helena City Commission has approved a resolution lifting the local disaster emergency declaration it made at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The greatest asset to the city of Helena in creating a declaration of disaster is it opens the door to accessing emergency dollars," City Manager Rachel Harlow-Schalk said at Monday's meeting, later adding "whether or not we can receive federal funding is not impacted by our removal of the emergency declaration within the city of Helena." The city approved the declaration March 16, 2020. It activated local disaster emergency plans. Lewis and Clark County is expected to repeal its emergency declaration in the coming weeks. The county commissioners have been out of town in attendance of a National Association of Counties conference.