CLAY COUNTY – As of Thursday afternoon July 2, Illinois citizens were declared "free" to move about and open their businesses – a sweeping declaration granted "to all citizens of the State of Illinois."
"Today was a good day – a day about accountability," said State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) after Clay County Judge Michael McHaney ruled Friday. McHaney said that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker abused his executive powers on April 8, 2020 by overstepping state law allowing him to declare 30-day emergency powers.
However, the governor’s office says "that provision cannot apply statewide since other circuits have ruled the opposite, and those rulings are just as valid," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Rep. Bailey filed a complaint early on against the governor, saying he did not have constitutional authority to restrict a citizen's movement or forcibly close businesses after the first executive order issued on March 9, 2020 expired. Illinois state law delegates that authority to the Department of Public Health and local health agencies – not the governor's office.
"It's not over," Bailey said after the ruling. "We know there are politicians that don't give up easily. We know most politicians will come up with creative ways to push their will on us, that's what they do."
The judge ruled Gov JB Pritzker abused his authority after the first 30 days when he re-issued a second and a third executive order shutting down the state of Illinois due to the COVID-19 pandemic spreading throughout the U.S.
Rep. Bailey's comments after Thursday's hearing:
