Plummer: "I Hope the Governor Has Learned His Lesson" on Prisoner Review Board
Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville)
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
Republicans critical of Governor JB Pritzker’s appointments to the Prisoner Review Board argue with the Governor’s contention the GOP has “politicized” the process.
Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville), the Chief Republican on the Senate Executive Appointments Committee, which hears all of Pritzker’s appointments to boards, commissions, and state agencies, says Republicans make very few complaints based on politics.
“I laugh whenever the Governor talks about the PRB process being politicized because we see hundreds of appointees to boards, commissions, agencies, every year,” Plummer said. “I believe [JB Pritzker] was elected governor and I believe he has the right to appoint, generally, who he wants to all of these various positions. There’s a lot of people I vote in favor of [though] I don’t agree with their politics. What we’ve seen specifically at the PRB is a manipulation of the process that we haven’t seen from these other boards and commissions.”
Plummer says he believes Pritzker’s appointments don’t put public safety first.
“I have voted for good Democrat appointees and I have voted against bad Republican appointees. I don’t want this to be a Republican [vs.] Democrat type thing,” he said. “The Governor has treated the PRB as a political landing ground for some of his allies and he has manipulated the process so the PRB reflects his personal philosophy on criminal justice. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Senate Republicans announced this week they will introduce legislation to reform PRB, an effort that is seen as unlikely to gain traction, but Plummer says he believes there are numerous Democrats who oppose the direction Pritzker’s appointments have taken.
“There are Senate Democrats who are wildly uncomfortable with the way the Governor has handled [these appointments],” Plummer said. “I can assure you there are people in the House who are wildly uncomfortable with the way this has been handled.
Plummer says the Senate GOP legislation will take politics out of PRB.
“We need folks with law enforcement backgrounds, with criminal justice backgrounds, prosecutors, defense attorneys, people who understand the system,” Plummer said. “We want to have a PRB that is independent, and we want to have a PRB that is full of qualified individuals that are making well reasoned decisions on behalf of the people of Illinois.”
After the murder of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins and the ensuing fallout, Plummer says he’s hopeful Pritzker will work with Republicans to reform PRB.
“I hope the Governor has learned his lesson here,” Plummer said. “Reasonable people can sit down together and chart a bipartisan path to fixing something that should truly be bipartisan. I know that there are Democrat legislators that want to get this fixed.”
You can watch the video version of the podcast below:
