By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), a bipartisan legislative oversight committee authorized to make sure rules put forward by state agencies comply with state laws, voted 10-0 on September 14 to request more answers from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) regarding the department’s claimed authority to enforce Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate for schools.
The vote was unanimous with five Democrats and five Republicans voting in favor.
In the hearing, ISBE claimed it has the power to enforce the mask mandate based on previous court rulings (Pritzker v. Board of Education of Hutsonville), but JCAR found ISBE’s legal justifications lacking. JCAR passed the following resolution:
“There is a concern that policy outside of rule may exist. JCAR encourages ISBE to place all policy and guidance in rule. JCAR recommends that ISBE provides an update to the committee in thirty days. Additionally, JCAR recommends that ISBE propose additional amendments to 23 IL Admin Code Part 425 expanding and clarifying the school recognition status to include a better defined process prior to the revocation of recognition.”
In simple terms, the committee members want to see ISBE’s enforcement policies actually included in the administrative rules and in harmony with Illinois law, rather than just based on “guidance” from the governor’s mandates and executive orders.
ISBE says it can strip uncooperative school districts of their “recognition status,” which deprives them of state funding, prevents students from participating in sports and denies high school students their diploma.
Committee members on both sides of the aisle are reportedly concerned about the precedent ISBE’s current position would set. If Illinois departments, e.g., ISBE, can set and enforce policy based on “guidance” and not actual rules, then JCAR – and by extension the General Assembly – would have no oversight over the actual administrative implementation of laws.
Also at issue is the fact that private schools have no “due process” if ISBE decides they are in violation of the governor’s order. Lawmakers noted that in one case, ISBE deprived the private Timothy Christian School of its “recognition” on the same day school officials announced their opposition to the mask mandate.
Several committee members expressed concern with the board’s lack of “due process,” which is likely why the committee asked ISBE to write new rules to provide a “better defined process prior to the revocation of recognition.”
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It’s unclear whether ISBE plans on including its enforcement policies within the administrative rules so JCAR can actually decide whether the rules are in “harmony” with the law.
If ISBE ignores JCAR’s recommendations and does not add the rules in question, then the committee can still vote for a “standard objection” to a policy that is “outside of rule.” That requires seven of the committee’s 12 lawmakers to vote to object.
A “standard objection” would be little more than a slap on the wrist for ISBE and Gov. Pritzker, even though JCAR’s disapproval could be used in arguments against the mask mandate in court.
The sad part is, if JCAR succeeds and gets ISBE to add the recommended rules, it only means Pritzker’s executive orders will have greater legitimacy. And that means goodbye to any chance in the near-term of local control for school districts.
Read more about Illinois’ mask mandate:
- Authority to enforce school mask mandate to be challenged by legislative review board
- Gov. Pritzker is brazenly two-faced on ‘local control’ over COVID issues
- Lies, damn lies and COVID statistics: Using data to justify Illinois’ mask mandate
- Gov. Pritzker strips school districts, parents of control over masks with new mandate
Here is the list of the JCAR members:
- office@repkeithwheeler.org – Keith Wheeler
- demmer@ilhousegop.org – Tom Demmer
- rephalpin@gmail.com – Michael Halpin
- repfranhurley@gmail.com – Frances Ann Hurley
- reick@ilhousegop.org – Steve Reick
- office@repcurtisjtarverii.com – Curtis Tarver II
- bill@billcunningham.com – Bill Cunningham
- senatorcurran@gmail.com – John Curran
- lightford@senatedem.ilga.gov – Kimberly Lightford
- amunoz@senatedem.ilga.gov – Antonio Munoz
- senatorrezin@gmail.com – Sue Rezin
- ddewitte33@gmail.com – Don DeWitte
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
Audio and summary 
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Another pro COVID post from the resident COV-IDIOT
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While checking on Alex Berenson’s Substack recently, I found reference to another Substack writer (code name eugyppius) and an essay titled “Covid is a Social Construct.” The writer’s idea is that because “illness is as much a social matter as a biological one,” we need to distinguish between two forms of “Covid.” The writer draws out a distinction “between the biological reality of the virus-disease, and the political and social perceptions of this virus-disease.” That framework helped me understand why things don’t seem to be getting any better, and indeed seem to be getting crazier. These particular points seem germane… Read more »
Mr. Downstate person, I sure wish people everywhere read the news as smartly as you apparently do. You are right on.
Well, thanks for that . . . I owe a great deal to you and your team, because once I got hooked on alternative media like Wirepoints there was no turning back. (And I try to spread the word about the value of your site.)
Thanks, I bookmarked the same article earlier this week but hadn’t read it yet. I will be sure to check it out now!
Sad that Timothy Christian caved.
All will cave. Fighting the mask mandate is a sisyphean battle in Illinois. People here love their masks and they love forcing you to wear them too. There is no practical legal avenue in Illinois that is available to overturn mask mandates because no court or legislative body will dare defy the governor, because, science or something like that.
HAIL TO KING JB!!-now,donuts and cheeseburgers for EVERYONE!!
I think what JCAR is requiring is rules that spell out due process.
I’m not sure it legitimizes Pritzker’s EO though. Pretty clear JCAR is saying ISBE acted outside the law.
P.S. JCAR’s move should put this case in a good spot https://www.shawlocal.com/kendall-county-now/news/local/2021/09/12/parkview-christian-academy-seeks-temporary-restraining-order-against-isbe-over-pritzkers-mask-mandate/
Their actions are outside the law for now (until ISBE rewrites the rules giving themselves power and then our corrupt government sails it through legislature.) Kids don’t matter to this state as much as illegal immigrants do. Disgusting.
I don’t understand the lefts position on all of this covid nonsense… I mean, I understand their desire is to control us… But it’s becoming more & more evident that their mitigation attempts are just not effective… Vax is not really working all that well, masks never worked, & they continue to discount natural immunity… I know our governor is deathly afraid of being seen as responsible for any covid infection spread… But when has the left EVER been held responsible for anything…??? Governing insanity – doing the same things over & over (getting the same results) and expecting different… Read more »
You’re not thinking like they think.
If your goal is to create a terribly destructive environment culturally and economically while concentrating economic, bureaucratic, and political power in fewer hands, the playbook is working fantastically.
Yup. CHAOS!
JB is just pandering to the 54% of voting population that voted for him. This is what they want. All you have to do is ask them. Exit polls in California showed that a lot of voters thought CA’s corona mitigation strategies didn’t go far enough! And CA went Bat—-t crazy shutting down everything except for Hollywood (and the French Laundry). IL liberals are the same way, JB is just giving them what they want. He knows the science behind masking is nonsense, especially for children, but crazed parents and teachers from liberal enclaves like Oak Park,etc email him and… Read more »
The streamed proceedings showed ISBE as arrogant, and not acting in the best interests of the children. Judges need to be worried about 2022 elections as well. When you are elected by the people you are supposed to represent the people.
We need voter integrity in order for this to happen. Voter ID, no vote by mail, no early voting, etc… Also not sure of the Demographics in Chicago and the Collar Counties. Many are still true belivers.
I hate to say this, but I don’t think our vote matters! It’s all about who counts the votes!
The problem in Illinois is the judiciary. Even if ISBE ignores and JCAR follows through on a Standard Objection, this ends with a judge using personal opinion to agree with the Governor’s policy. There are no laws for this pandemic because this response is unprecedented. The legislature punted on their responsibilities to allow the Governor to make the tough decisions. The Judiciary should follow through with a rebuke of a terrible legislature. While many people see these rules as useless and ineffective, these are the elected leaders, so they can be useless and ineffective. Without the legislature making law, the… Read more »
Well stated – the rule of law is moot with these ’emergency powers’ which we can’t expect JB to relinguish anytime soon.
“The problem in Illinois is the judiciary.” The problem with the judiciary is just a symptom of the underlying rot. We live in a one-party state because 54% of the population has voted straight ticket Democrat for a full generation resulting in a consolidation of power in a ruling class. Members of that ruling class have an unspoken agreement to never fight or push back against the action of a fellow member of the ruling Democrat party. (And for a generation, the RINOs in IL have done the same with their Democrat counterparts.) So now we are in a quagmire… Read more »
Agree with you.
It’s what leftists do. Create unlivable environments for everyone but a chosen few.