State Sen. McClure calls Gov. Pritzker’s Prisoner Review Board shenanigans “political gamesmanship”

Posted on March 23, 2022
State Sen. McClure. (Photo courtesy: State Sen. McClure/Facebook)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ appointment process has become a Big Partisan Thing, and one of the biggest complaints Illinois Senate Republicans have about Gov. JB Pritzker.

Particularly for the Prisoner Review Board, the governor submits nominations, withdraws them before they can get a vote, then re-submits them to start a new clock.

State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) calls shenanigans: “It’s political gamesmanship, that’s all this is,” he said. “This is obviously all driven by the election that’s coming up in November.”

An election campaign would be a bad time to have appointed members of the Prisoner Review Board choose to free a felon who then commits more crime.

“There’s no gaming the system,” said State Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines), chairwoman of the Senate Executive Appointments Commission. “It’s been in the Senate rules since I’ve been a member here, so people want to make more of this than what it is.”

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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