Illinois Valley Times

Veteran state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) is flabbergasted at the way Gov. J.B. Pritzker continues to insist Illinois can’t do what she already sees being done in other states.

“Clearly all these other places, like the Big 10, have put processes in place to allow them to play sports and you have wonder why we can’t do the same thing,” Rezin told the Illinois Valley Times. “I think if you can show that you can play in a safe manner, you should be able to.”

Pritzker recently doubled down on his decision to keep most student-athletes off the field over COVID-19 concerns, sparking protests from parents, students and coaches all across the state.

The Illinois High School Association fired off a letter to Pritzker requesting that they be allowed “to resume control over determining the resumption of sports and activities.” Currently, the two sides are allowing teams across the state to practice this month under specific COVID-19 guidelines.

In the end, Rezin said she thinks it all comes down to just more politics on the part of the governor.

“Think about it: Illinois is the only state among all the surroundings ones that’s not allowing high school football right now,” she said. “I think the governor is clearly taking a much more restrictive approach to COVID than in other states and that clearly strikes me as being political.”

In the end, Rezin said there should be only one overriding objective.

“People will argue both ways about what should and needs to be done, but as publicly elected officials our job should be to do what we can to open up our economy in a safe manner,” she said. “If others are doing this, clearly there is a way it can be done here in Illinois also.”