NAPERVILLE— Late on Friday, Governor JB Pritzker quietly issued an emergency rule that would allow for criminal penalties, including jail time, for small business owners who reopen their doors while the Governor’s current stay home order remains in place. In response to the emergency rule, Assistant House Minority Leader Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) has issued the following statement:
“Rather than announcing his intention to issue this outrageous new rule during his Friday 2:30 press conference, Governor JB Pritzker waited until late in the day Friday to quietly issue a rule that would make it a jailable offence for businesses to violate the provisions of his stay home order. This is the same man who gave the green light to releasing 1,400 criminals from correctional centers, yet now he wants to make criminals out of desperate small business owners who are doing what they have to do to keep their businesses afloat. It’s preposterous.
“This is a massive overreach of his authority, and the latest in a series of missteps that illustrate just how little he cares about the small business owners who provide the majority of jobs in this state. The Republicans who serve on the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR) will attempt to reverse this abuse of emergency rulemaking when the legislature reconvenes on Wednesday.
“This latest unilateral decision by the Governor is one more reason why the executive branch should be working with the legislative branch on responses and solutions to the current health pandemic. The checks and balances we provide are critical to our state. These business owners are only trying to survive and to salvage what for many has been their life’s work. JB Pritzker must stop ruling the state via executive order, and if JCAR does not reverse this appalling emergency rule, then I call on the Illinois judicial system to step in and find his actions to be outside of his authority.”
