By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – According to a Central Illinois lawmaker, Gov. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigations are a ‘”failure of democracy” after calling on the Governor to answer questions about mitigation decisions.
State Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) told WJBC’s Scott Miller that the Governor is making unilateral decisions regarding COVID mitigations without receiving input from the General Assembly.
“The point here is this isn’t about the legislator; it’s not about us. It’s about the people of the state who have come to rely on a democratic process for solving the state’s problems. And again, what I see here is that process is being circumvented. Now, what happens as a result? There’s a lack of transparency, there’s lots of people who look around at these orders, and they say, ‘what are the what’s the data, who are the scientists the Governor is relying on’? If we adhere to a public process, if we allow for public hearings on this, that allows for a two-way dialogue with the public.”
The Bloomington Republican held a press conference on Wednesday with local restaurant owners showing his support. Barickman said residents feel like they have no voice when it comes to mitigation decisions, and that’s a problem.
“The system that we live in does not allow for any one person to have unlimited unilateral control over the people that they’re supposed to serve. People, here, I think you heard it from those who spoke at the press conference this week, but you are hearing it all around the state. The people feel as if they have no voice in this process, and that’s a failure of the system.”
Barickman said the Governor had held one-way phone calls with the General Assembly members, telling them his mitigation decisions without asking for input.
LISTEN: Speaking with WJBC’s Scott Miller, State Sen. Jason Barickman said Governor Pritzker’s COVID mitigation restrictions are a “failure of democracy.”
So far, Gov. Pritzker has issued 70 unilateral Executive orders in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, Pritzker issued 20 orders.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
