North Cook News

State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) wants to see Gov. J.B. Pritzker live in the real world when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We can and must get a handle on this without instituting draconian measures that will result in second-order effects that cause more harm to Illinois than the virus itself,” Morrison told the North Cook News. “Our billionaire governor is insulated from the full consequences of his decisions as they overall negatively impact Illinois residents and businesses.”

Morrison fears the governor’s latest actions only insure more of the same struggle.

Citing rising infection rates, Pritzker recently moved to reenact COVID restrictions in at least 24 counties while warning the ban could soon spread to other parts of the state, raising the ire of many small business owners still struggling to overcome the effects of the first shutdown he imposed just months earlier.

“Since the Governor issued his first disaster proclamation 7 months ago, the people of Illinois have had virtually zero say and no recourse for action as he has violated the constitutional principle of the separation of powers,” Morrison added. “Disaster proclamations were never intended to provide unending power upon the governor, which is why I filed HB5776. There must be a vetting of the governor’s continued actions via the people’s representatives in the Illinois House and Senate.”

With so many small business owners fighting for survival, Morrison said he isn’t surprised to see many of them now rising up to take matters in their own hands, including launching a Facebook page where owner who plan to defy his order can go to vent their frustrations.

Morrison argues the governor’s one-man show in coming to such far-reaching decisions is no longer in the state’s best interest.

“It is more important than ever that Gov. Pritzker bring the legislature into the decision-making process,” he said. “Instead, the governor continues to rule by executive fiat in a manner that unfairly impacts small businesses, individual residents and families who are just barely hanging on.”

Morrison laments there’s a price to pay for it all.

“The governor’s re-applied restrictions will absolutely cripple our local restaurant, bar and hospitality industry,” he said. “This will lead to new waves of unemployed Illinoisans, business closures, and decreased revenues for local and state government. A business and commercial property that shuts down will require a shift in the tax burden to residents, who already carry one of the highest tax burdens in the country.”