Prairie State Wire

 Illinois residents are starting to get impatient and they are asking Gov. J.B. Pritzker what his plans are for reopening the state soon. And they are putting the emphasis on “soon.”

Pritzker spoke with the media recently and spoke happily about the state’s efforts to fight against the pandemic. He said, “I’m terrifically pleased with the direction of things and if it keeps going that way we’ll be able to open more and more and finally get past this pandemic.”

But when it came to the specifics of when he will ease up the COVID-19 restrictions, Pritzker failed to give any details.

One business sector of the state is struggling to stay afloat in this pandemic and the people involved in that sector are afraid that if they don’t start seeing changes to the restrictions there might not be anything left to save.

The hospitality sector has not been operating for almost a year because the COVID-19 restrictions barred them from accommodating people at restaurants, hotels, shops and other places of businesses.

Pritzker’s lack of clear plans for reopening the state soon is worrisome for most of the people under the hospitality sector and they are demanding that the governor start making changes to reopen Illinois sooner.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza spoke to a virtual committee and expressed her frustration over the lack of urgency to reopen the state. She said, “If we are on the right track in our fight to contain COVID-19 then we would like to at the appropriate pace and with the appropriate safeguards allow the state to start planning for conventions to come back to the state of Illinois.”

She warned the committee that the taxes they get from the hospitality sector are so low that it would take a miracle to recover from this kind of slump.