Illinois Valley Times

Veteran state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) argues Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest COVID-19 restrictions scream for the need for the legislature to be back in session in Springfield.

“We’re concerned with still being shut out of the decision-making process and leaving the governor in complete control to make the kind of mistakes he’s prone to,” Rezin told Illinois Valley Times. “When it comes to this virus, we need to talk over his mitigation plan and instead come up with something that keeps people safe while also allowing small business owners to make a living for themselves and be able to survive.”

Rezin argues nothing about the governor recently moving to reenact shutdown measures in at least 24 counties after infection rates ticked up comes close to meeting that criteria.

“You’re seeing more small business owners standing up and resisting this time because they feel like they really don’t have a choice,” Rezin added. “For many of them, this is about survival.”

Despite following all the rules aimed at keeping their establishments safe, Rezin said restaurant and bar owners feel particularly targeted by the governor by being among the first places to be slapped with the new restrictions.

“It’s wrong because nothing in the numbers we’ve seen shows that the new cases are coming from people congregating at those kinds of establishments,” she said. “It’s really unfortunate that they’re being forced to take the brunt of all this. Now eight months into this crisis, we feel its past time for us to be able to sit down with the governor and have an open debate about some of his decisions and the way he’s been doing things.”