Prairie State Wire

Labeling all the mandates and lockdowns “a bridge too far,” Libertarian Party of Illinois executive director Justin Tucker is saluting parents for “making their voices heard” against what he sees as Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ongoing abuse on the COVID-19 front.

“I think the mandate, especially if they're coming from the national directive or a statewide directive are hard infringements, essentially,” Tucker said. “What we know is who's more at risk and we also know that shutting down the economy for as long as we did caused a lot of other problems that probably are just as horrible as a virus. You know, the rate of people relapsing or diving into substance abuse, depression, that sort of thing.”

Tucker isn’t the only one convinced that the governor’s approach to dealing with the virus has been all wrong.

"It's always fear and confusion,” Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said in a Cities929.com interview shortly after Pritzker imposed a universal mask mandate on public and private school students. “We've got to start getting back to some normalcy. And the way they present the data doesn't allow us to really understand or trust them. A lot of people don't trust what's coming out of the officials, you know, either at the CDC or at the local level."

Pritzker’s latest actions include imposing a statewide masking mandate on all students at public and private schools.

Again, Tucker is among those speaking out.

“I don't think the mandates have really done anything, obviously, to stop the virus,” he added. “It's still out there. I think that if people want to voluntarily get the vaccine, voluntarily wear masks or voluntarily require vaccinations upon entering your business or your private property, I think that is OK. I think local communities have more flexibility. I'm not saying they should, but I think local jurisdictions have a little bit more flexibility to make those decisions.”

The governor’s new order also requires masks for teachers and staff at pre-kindergarten through 12th grade schools regardless of vaccination status and state employees working in congregate facilities such as long-term care facilities and veterans' homes.

While the governor continues to defend his actions as doing what he feels is needed to keep residents safe, Dabrowski blasts it as just another instance of Pritzker abusing his power.

"School districts, they can be making their own decisions about whether to open or not based on local COVID conditions, what the public wants,” he said. “But instead, we've got another edict coming down from the governor, and that just doesn't make sense anymore. We've had 10 deaths under the age of 17 in Illinois, and most of those kids had had some serious health issues. So for the normal, healthy kid ... it's more risky to send your kids out on his bicycle or to the lake than it is to fear COVID at this point."

School superintendents across the state are banding together to publicly oppose the governor’s order after dozens of districts were put on probation for refusing to comply.

Republican state senator and candidate for governor Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) recently told a crowd he believes Pritzker’s order is legally unenforceable. He added he has already secured at least 45,000 signatures from parents pushing for the state to allow local school districts to make their own decisions about masking.

“The governor lacks the authority to mandate this. ... Stop making empty threats,” he said. Back in May of 2020, the lawmaker was removed from a legislative session after refusing to wear a mask.