GOP Critical of Pritzker While Mitigations Hit Lake & McHenry Counties
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) speak at a 2018 news conference at the Illinois State Capitol. The two held separate news conferences Wednesday criticizing Governor JB Pritzker’s closure of bars and restaurants to indoor service.
As COVID-19 positivity rates climbed again in McHenry and Lake counties in far northeastern Illinois, Governor JB Pritzker added the region to the growing list of areas in the state banned from indoor dining and bar service. Meanwhile, some Republican leaders are criticizing Pritzker for closing bars and restaurants to indoor service, claiming he’s doing too much damage to the economy.
McHenry and Lake counties, with a combined population around one million people, becomes the eighth of the 11 regions in the Governor’s “Restore Illinois” plan to face additional mitigations this month. A ninth, in West Central Illinois stretching from Quincy to Jacksonville to Springfield may have similar mitigations announced Thursday.
“These resurgence mitigations aim to cut down on some of the highest high-risk activities until we bring down the positivity rate in a region once again,” said Pritzker. “I know this virus is hard on everyone. But this battle isn’t going away by itself. We have to manage our way through it with the tools we have available to us. And there are many of those tools that nearly everyone in our state has available to join the fight.”
While Pritzker announced further restrictions on bars and restaurants, both House Republicans and Senate Republicans held news conferences Wednesday critical of the Governor’s actions.
“The Governor cannot be making decisions for all of Illinois without at all thinking about the economy and the jobs people depend on to survive,” said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). “There must be a balance in this discussion.”
Durkin continued to say data he’s seen has shown restaurants are not a leading spreader of the COVID-19 virus. The Governor and his administration have repeatedly said contact tracing efforts show bars and restaurants are a common factor in the spread of the coronavirus.
“The hospitality industry has suffered enough,” said Rep. Brad Stephens (R-Rosemont), who is also the Mayor of the suburban community which relies on hotels, restaurants, and events. “They’re at the brink of disaster and instead of pushing them off of the cliff, we should be finding ways to keep them alive.”
Pritzker has repeatedly pushed Business Interruption Grants through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, but many restaurant owners who spoke to The Illinoize in recent days say they haven’t received any state assistance.
“It’s just not enough,” said Durkin.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) held a separate news conference Wednesday critical of the Governor’s actions. He was joined by a Kane County restaurant owner who was granted permission by a judge to stay open in defiance of Pritzker’s order. (Disclosure: I worked for Senate Republicans from 2013-2014, but did not work specifically with Sen. Brady.)
“We don’t see the science and contact tracing evidence behind why restaurants should be forced to close,” said Brady. “So far there’s no proof that restaurants are mass spreaders.”
Brady said his objection was specific to restaurants, not bars.
Chef and co-owner of FoxFire steakhouse in Geneva in Kane County, K.C. Gulbro, received a temporary order from a Kane County judge this week allowing his restaurant to stay open.
“This [order would] greatly affect our livelihood and those of our staff,” he said. “We feel there’s unfortunately not enough data that’s out there that shows restaurants and bars are the main culprits here. It looks like we aren’t, but not being able to get the concrete data from the Governor, we feel like we’re safe enough to be open.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul is appealing the decision to allow FoxFire to ignore the Governor’s order.
“The need for these lifesaving measures could not be more evident,” said Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Annie Thompson. “As we have argued successfully in other Illinois courts that have considered these issues, the governor’s constitutional and statutory authority to protect Illinois residents during the pandemic is clear. We are committed to continuing to defend the well-reasoned measures being implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 throughout Illinois, particularly as the numbers of positive cases once again increase.”
Wednesday, Pritzker said the mitigations have shown they work after two regions saw positivity rates drop after bars and restaurants were closed to indoor service late this summer.
“We have the same metrics for every region,” he said. “They have worked when we put them in place. That will work. That does work.”
