Illinois Valley Times

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) has recently praised an appellate court's decision to block Gov. J.B Pritzker's mask mandate, which required students and staff to wear masks while at school.

The decision to repeal the mask requirements was approved 9-0 on Feb 15 by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), a bipartisan committee of legislators, according to an ABC7 report.

The ruling comes only days after the governor declared he would suspend indoor mask requirements for all public places except schools on Feb. 28.

"Thanks to members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules who took a bipartisan stand to stop the Pritzker 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," Rezin said on Facebook.

The JCAR supported its decision by citing an existing court case that resulted in Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow issuing a temporary restraining order prohibiting mask requirements for school districts throughout the state.

"Today’s court decision should be a wake-up call for the Governor," Rezin said, "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 strives to provide a better future for the people of Illinois.

Following the court's decision, a spokesperson for the governor stated that Pritzker was "disappointed" with the result and will work with the Attorney General to seek an expedited review by the Supreme Court, according to an ABC7 report.

Pritzker first mandated statewide school masks in August 2021, citing the necessity for masks due to COVID-19's delta variant, according to a CNN report.