Drama about mask mandate continues in Illinois House of Representatives

Posted on February 22, 2022
Dan Caulkins
State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) (Photo from Dan Caukins Illinois State Representative Facebook Page)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The mask melodrama in the Illinois House of Representatives just won’t go away.

State Rep. Lakesia Collins (D-Chicago) asked that three Republicans be removed from the floor for not following the mask rule: Reps. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur), Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich), and Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City).

Collins is the one who was on the receiving end of an angry and profane response last week from State Rep. Steve Reick (R-Woodstock). She detailed Tuesday how she was “triggered” because she is an orphan and a victim of child sex abuse.

Reick said he tried to apologize minutes after the exchange and again in a meeting in the speaker’s office Tuesday. He said he is sorry for how he handled Thursday’s situation — but he also regrets Collins dragging it out into public.

It is not the first time Reick has had to apologize for what he has said on the floor. In 2019, he said “I made an ass of myself” as he apologized for a remark during debate that a Black lawmaker considered racist.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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