SPRINGFIELD – Republican lawmakers were eager to respond to the Appellate Court's dismissal late Thursday of Governor Pritzker's mask mandate appeal.
State Senator Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) has been vocal in his opposition to Governor Pritkzer's Emergency Orders after they passed the first 30-day limit provided in Illinois state law:
"This ruling is another victory for freedom that confirms what we already knew and have been fighting for since the beginning. Pritzker is a failure and I will continue fighting against his tyrannical mandates and empty threats while standing up for the rights of parents, students, small businesses, and every Illinoisan who has suffered under his unconstitutional and unilateral mandates. It’s time to restore common sense to Springfield and freedom and opportunities to every Illinoisan."
After learning the governor intends to appeal once again, this time to the Illinois Supreme Court, Bailey – who is running for governor in the 2022 GOP primary – said:
“After losing his appeal to take our freedoms, JB acts like the spoiled, trust-fund billionaire brat he is by taking his quest to force masks on kids to the Supreme Court. Let's hope Pritzker handles November's loss better than this one to parents, students, and teachers.”
State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) said. “This is a significant development for the Illinois school districts that have operated under Governor Pritzker’s complete overreach of power for 23 months. This is what happens when one person is given sole power for nearly two years. Governor Pritzker says there is a plan, but there’s nothing planned. Meanwhile my legislation to reel in executive power and include legislative input in these matters cannot get a hearing in committee. The Governor’s continued insistence he can rule the state through unending executive orders is coming apart at the seams.”
State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said, “Thanks to members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules who took a bipartisan stand to stop the Prtizker Administration’s misguided attempt to reinstate the same rules and mandates that a judge voided, the Appellate Court has moved to dismiss the Governor’s appeal as ‘moot,’ which has rightfully provided schools with local control.”
“Today’s court decision should be a wake-up call for the Governor. It should make him reevaluate his go-it-alone approach and finally drive him to work as an equal partner with the General Assembly. We are over two years into this pandemic, it is time for all of us to work together to create a better functioning state government that stives to provide a better future for the people of Illinois.”
In response to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules’ decision this week, the appellate court rejected Governor Pritzker’s school mask mandate appeal because, “none of the rules found by the circuit court to be null and void are currently in effect.”
Local officials can now make their own decisions for the best interests of their communities, without fear of having their school accreditation revoked by the administration—a threat that was utilized by the Pritzker administration at the beginning of the school year to ensure that schools followed his mandate, state Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) said.
“Pritzker has tried to strong-arm his way throughout this entire pandemic,” Rep. Morrison said. “We’re finally seeing it fall apart. It’s because he’s repeatedly and stubbornly gone around the legislature and due process. Courts and Democratic legislators were willing to give Pritzker a free pass on his one-man rule when we were in the midst of a crisis, but we’re not in one anymore.”
“We have vaccines and information to make better choices. COVID is something we must learn to live with, not continue to treat as an emergency,” Morrison continued.
Over 500 of Illinois’ 852 school districts have gone mask optional since a circuit court issued a temporary restraining order of the Governor’s mask mandate on February 4th.
