Illinois Supermajority Dems vote to remove three Republicans off House floor for not wearing a mask

Posted on March 1, 2022
Lawmakers are allowed to vote remotely. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The Speaker of the Illinois House believes face mask rules in the chamber should be more stringent than what Gov. JB Pritzker has laid out.

While Pritzker lifted the statewide mask mandate effective Monday, the rules are unchanged in the Illinois House: masks are the rule in the chamber.

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) says that’s a problem.

“We shouldn’t have to put up with this stuff here,” a bare-faced Wilhour told the House. “The stands that we take today, the fight for rationality that we take today, sets a precedent for what my kids and other people are going to have to put up with in the future, and I’m just not cool with what’s happening here.”

Supermajority Democrats are not cool with unmasked lawmakers on the floor and voted to remove Wilhour and two others, State Reps. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) and Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich). 

Wilhour was not cool with leaving the floor, so Democrats turned off his voting switch. Lawmakers are allowed to vote remotely.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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