By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The Republicans in the Illinois House don’t care much for Gov. Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan, nor do they like spending two months away from the Capitol. State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) says Gov. JB Pritzker is assuming too much power.

“Instead of offering any semblance of local authority to the people who are on the ground in the community,” said Brady, “it continues to be a decree by one person, and with this plan it could be months or even years before the state could fully reopen as we wait for a vaccine that would fit this plan.”

The House Republicans held a news conference Wednesday to say the four regions of the state under Restore Illinois are too big, and the time frames stretch past a year.

And House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springfs) says plenty of work awaits the lawmakers in Springfield. “We created an ethics commission to deal with the inherent problems that we have in Springfield, coming off the indictment of a state senator who was selling out his office as chairman of the Transportation Committee,” said Durkin. “We also had a state representative, a member of the House Democrat leadership team, caught attempting to bribe a Democratic state senator for a gaming issue.”

A statement from a Pritzker spokeswoman said the administration is willing to listen to reasonable ideas.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]