156: "The governor does not have the executive authority to be a dictator"

Rep. Luke Simons is a Republican lawmaker from Dickinson, North Dakota.

On Friday, May 1, he plans to re-open his barbershop and he doesn't care what coronavirus-inspired executive orders Governor Doug Burgum may or may not have in place when that day comes.

"I don't care if he's the governor. I don't care if he's a billionaire. I am going to practice my freedom," Simons told me on this episode of Plain Talk.

"One has the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws," Simons added.

"The governor does not have the executive authority to be a dictator," Simons also said. "I went along with what I will call tyranny for a long time now."

Burgum's Commerce Department has been working with state business and industry leaders on a plan to re-open the economy, but so far there has been no official word on when some of the restrictions put in place might start to ease.

In the meantime, Simons says it's his right to re-open his business. "I will not pay the fines," he said.