On May 5, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced his five-step, phase-in plan to reopen the state of Illinois.
State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) issued the following statement in response to the proposal:
“While I recognize and appreciate the fact that the Governor has finally provided his vision for moving Illinois forward, it is unfortunately a plan that fails to address the very real concerns and challenges facing many Illinoisans.
In my opinion, this is not a plan to re-open Illinois. It is a baseless year-long, modified stay-at-home order with almost zero accountability or transparency.
The Governor has divided our state into four blanket regions and implemented this arbitrary 28-day minimum phase-in approach without fully considering the impact this will have on the citizens and businesses of this state.
Our small business community is being devastated day-after-day. Businesses declared ‘non-essential’ will have to wait another month before possibly being allowed to resume operations, despite there being ways for these businesses to safely open and other states, including New York, implementing shorter, more realistic timelines between phases. Jobs, businesses, livelihoods, and much more are being permanently – and unnecessarily – lost by the Governor’s ham-handed approach to reopening Illinois.
It’s time to acknowledge that the Governor has overreached his authority and recognize the needs of the people of this state. I respectfully urge the Governor to set aside his personal agenda and work with those of us in the General Assembly to provide for a realistic, bipartisan solution to reopen Illinois.”