By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
One of the Illinois legislature’s biggest failures during the pandemic has been its complete abdication of responsibility over the management of the pandemic itself. Lawmakers have let Gov. Pritzker run the state’s response via executive fiat for nearly two years.
The result has been a disaster for democratic norms. Regardless of whether you agree with the governor’s COVID actions, the legislature should strip Gov. Pritzker of his emergency powers as we enter 2022.
Unfortunately, they won’t.
Previous attempts to bring back the legislative process have been tried to no avail.
Republicans Sen. Dan McConchie (SB103) and Rep. Dan Ugaste (HB 843) both introduced bills in 2021, but with Republicans’ super minority positions in both houses, their proposals went nowhere.
Rep. Ugaste told Wirepoints this about the need for the legislature to engage:
“I am both amazed and outraged that despite our sworn duty to support both the Illinois and the United States Constitutions, not even one of my Democrat colleagues has agreed to join my efforts ending this unconstitutional abuse of power by executive orders.
Furthermore, the Governor’s abuse of power and sidelining the Legislature, a co-equal branch of government, is not only a breach of his oath of office, but it is incomprehensible that any person raised in this great Nation believes they should solely exercise that much authority over the lives of nearly 13 million people.”
Some lawmakers say they’re happy to not interfere with the COVID mandates and support the governor’s orders. Fine, but the General Assembly should pass its own laws that render the governor’s executive orders unnecessary.
Rep. Chris Welch said something to that effect when he was first elected speaker. From the Chicago Tribune:
“Amid the pandemic, lawmakers seldom met in Springfield last year, and state policy was primarily driven by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
‘We want to let people know that the legislature is back in business and we’re going to be engaged in the government process in 2021,’ Welch said.”
Welch’s commitment to a more active legislature this year should be welcome news for Republican lawmakers, who for months have lamented Pritzker’s “governing by executive order” during the pandemic and have pushed for a return to in-person sessions in Springfield.”
Nearly a year later, and we’re still waiting for lawmakers to end the executive orders.
Read more about COVID in Illinois:
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Illinois peeps keep voting for these dumbocrats! Expect no change.
Leave Illinois and Chicago0- save your children and family!!!
Dems do not care about you just your vote! Wake up Illinois
It all started with “this is only for 2 weeks”, and there’s no end in sight almost two years later.
Power addicts just can’t put down the pipe. Must. Keep. Fear. Alive.
Does anyone south of I-80 or west of 355 follow these executive orders?
I’m just west of 355 and just north of 80 answer, nope.
Lake county- come as you are!
Nobody listen to JB!!! That fat as- does not care about you or your family!
Im in lake county,never wear a mask,never comply with the fat ass slob governors mandates,go eat some more twinkies putzker!!-never going to comply!!
I’m in the same area, masks are optional everywhere. Some do, some don’t. Nobody cares.
We do our best not to…
Still, there are a lot of nervous nellies masking up…
Lots of folks masked, that’s true. I suspect they’re mostly just trying to get thru the day without attracting trouble or offending Karens. If they were to vote, and the votes were to be honestly counted, change might come.
You hit the nail on the head. If votes were honestly counted. I suspect they haven’t for decades.
You think Naperville doesn’t follow?
Depends on where. Hardly anybody walks into restaurants with a mask anymore, waitresses don’t bother with them or are under their chins. People are finally seeing that the walk from the hostess to the table isnt dangerous.For sure Menards and Home Depot you’ll see maybe 15% with masks at the most. Employees have them around chins. Tradesmen, never have them on and there are millions of tradesmen about towns. At Wal mart though there are still a lot of mask wearers, over half, blacks and Mexicans always seem to have them on. I no longer see signs on business doors… Read more »
Thank god Omicron appears to making this endemic, but that still won’t stop them from using this low grade, engineered bioweapon as an excuse for power grabbing. When the statistics finally remove their excuses for mandates, they will still never give up that as an excuse for mail in voting. As this pandemic wanes mail in voting will become the last thing still standing. Because it buys them complete and total control over election results. Removing the chain of custody from ballots is the ultimate power grab, all these other grabs Mark listed are just kids stuff. Elections are not… Read more »
Moved to NC in 2014. Looking in the rear view mirror we feel like geniuses. NC is a red conservative state but with the influx of NY NJ voters I fear for the future. I have signed up for poll watcher training hoping I can make a difference but based on the last President election I’m fairly certain it’s electronically manipulated and there will never be a fair election again.
When you have Dear Leader JB, who needs a legislature? But if he wants to get it right, he needs to flatten his hair on top.
Reginald Van Pritzker III gets away with this nonsense because no one in his own majority party wants to be linked to his stink.
Which is why Freddie will lose in 2022.
You watch.
If it’s still an emergency 18 months later than the emergency is poor leadership.
Wirepoints: Explaining the incomprehensible to the incredulous.
It took the Cubs 107 years. Maybe 2022 will be The Year.