Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday backed off an emergency rule filed by his administration that would have made reopening a business outside of his stay-at-home order a crime.
After delaying the start of the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules by about three hours on Wednesday, JCAR co-chairman and state Sen. Bill Cunningham asked Illinois Department of Public Health officials if the emergency would be repealed.
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“The recently filed emergency rule filed by the department is going to be repealed,” Cunningham said. “Can you confirm that for me?”
A department official confirmed it would be repealed.
Repealing the rule kept members of JCAR from going on the record with a vote on it.
National Federation of Independent Business Illinois State Director Mark Grant said that good public policy “finally trumped party loyalty.”
“This administration talks about supporting small business, we haven’t seen that much action that would prove that, but today at least some cooler heads prevailed,” Grant said.
State Rep. Steven Reick, R-Woodstock, serves on the commission. He said his office was flooded with calls and emails opposing the rule. After officials said the rule would be repealed, Reick said it was clear that people are paying attention and the governor needs to work with lawmakers.
“He’s got executive authority to issue his orders, but the fact is that if he really wants the public support he needs to bring the General Assembly into this process so that we can exercise our right to represent our constituents,” Reick said.
Grant said his organization would likely still oppose such a move in the legislature, but he said the legislature is where such changes to state policy should be hashed out.
“That gives everybody who has a representative in the House and the Senate the opportunity to petition for their viewpoints on this,” Grant said.
It’s unclear when such a measure would be filed and debated in the legislature. Cunningham said the legislation would be softer than what was in the emergency rule.
Pritzker on Wednesday said with the General Assembly back in session he will pursue legislation with the same mechanism to coincide his phased-in reopening plan and if such a measure isn’t passed, he will file another emergency rule.
