Prairie State Wire

House Republicans recently held a news conference to discuss an upcoming Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) hearing in regard to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's emergency rules.

"JCAR is holding a hearing in Springfield and I have insisted for the governor's emergency rules be placed on the agenda," House Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) said at the news conference. "I believe the governor’s actions criminalize folks trying to protect their livelihoods and families."

Wheeler said the governor's actions make those working in certain professions who are trying to work a Class A misdemeanor.

"A single mother doing nails in her own home could suffer fines and jail time," Wheeler said. "We should not punish those who are the backbone of our economy."

Wheeler said he hoped JCAR would vote to block the governor's emergency rules.

"JCAR is a thoughtful and clever committee and I am proud to serve on it," Wheeler said. "In order to block a rule, it takes eight members— this is a bipartisan action."

Wheeler said Pritzker's rules had to be stopped.

"I hope the committee members will join me," Wheeler said. "Pritzker cannot continue to unilaterally rule the government as he has for two months. I will make a motion to stop this."

House Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) said when the COVID-19 pandemic began developing in March, everyone accepted the first two weeks of emergency rules — which then turned into 30 days of shelter-in-place.

"The problem we began to see really soon was that the peak was not mid-April, it was mid-May and now maybe it'll be later than that," Halbrook said. "There was a call for more testing, there was a call for contact tracing before we could open up. There was a discussion about antibody testing. There was a call that maybe we would not return to a pre-mid-March level until we had a vaccine or some sort of treatment."

Halbrook said there are many viruses that still don't have vaccines, and many argue about effectiveness.

"We have seen these viruses come and they’re hot for a while and then they ultimately die down and go away," Halbrook said. "We were told to flatten the curve to help hospitals not get overwhelmed but it also flattened the economy."

Halbrook said the preparations made by the hospitals to prepare for a wave that never really hit most of Illinois then caused the hospitals to begin laying off and furloughing staff people.

"We see it as flatten the curve while flattening the economy," Halbrook said. "We saw that big box stores were deemed essential, while Main Street was deemed nonessential."

Halbrook said the very people who are the backbone of communities were shuttered and not able to provide for themselves or their families.

"The emergency powers rules are very clear," Halbrook said. "It shall not exceed 30 days. Due process has been violated and many other civil liberties and constitutional rights have been stripped and trampled on in the process."

Halbrook said the governor’s reopening plan is a failure.

"The five-phase plan at 28-day intervals is two times longer than anyone else in the nation," Halbrook said. "Does the governor expect people to wait three-plus months to get a haircut or other personal services?"

Halbrook said he was concerned about overall health measures such as elective surgeries as well as suicide and domestic abuse.

House Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) said that Illinoisans did not consent to Pritzker's heavy-handed approach.

"The governor unilaterally decided to criminalize certain businesses," Mazzochi said. "He didn’t do it with a court order. He did not to it with a new law. He did it because that’s what he wants and just because he said so."

Mazzochi said Pritzker used COVID-19 as an excuse for his state agencies to make criminals out of business owners and their employees.

“If the governor wants to change the law, there is a process for that: go to the General Assembly and ultimately we, the people," Mazzochi said.

Mazzochi said Pritzker keeps concocting ways to deny people their rights with no due process while avoiding legislative accountability.

"He needs to stop with the unilateral threats and trying to use state agencies as his heavyweights," Mazzochi said.

Mazzochi said Illinoisans should decide if they need a new law and, regulatory tracks are not the way to go about that.

"You don’t do it under the cover of darkness," Mazzochi said.

Mazzochi said the governor keeps saying his decisions are made by science and data, but his approach has made Illinois an extreme outlier from other states.

"What data, if it exists, does he have that other states don’t?" Mazzochi said. "Why does our governor want these same things shut down and our vulnerable not protected as they should be? This is not science and data. It’s gone beyond politics. This is arbitrary and abusive and needs to stop."

Mazzochi questioned who voted to weaponize business licenses and utility hookups, because it was not the Illinois General Assembly.

"Who voted to deny county sheriffs funding if they don’t do what governor wants? Not us," Mazzochi said. "This is a problem when you have a politically corrupt machine in Illinois. More of us are outside the machine than are in that are saying they see this and they want change."

Mazzochi said if JCAR won't suspend these rules then the General Assembly should.