Kane County Reporter

State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-St. Charles) is taking shots at Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s flurry of executive actions that come as Illinois, one of just eight states still under a COVID-19 health emergency, plans to end the emergency states on May 11. 

According to a mystateline.com report, earlier this month Pritzker, a Democrat, announced the emergency powers given to him will end on May 11, the same day the national COVID-19 emergency declaration comes to an end.

“I don’t know how anyone can tell you four months in advance exactly when an emergency is going to end," Ugaste told the website. “It’s obviously being done to game the system, but more importantly to me, we are still experiencing a period where an individual retains extraordinary authority over the legislative process and all of the government in the state of Illinois.”

According to a 2021 Illinoispolicy.org study cited by the website, COVID-19 lockdowns led to the shuttering of 35% of small businesses in the state, driving Ugaste to file a legislative measure to limit the ability of a governor to issue rolling disaster declarations.

A spokesman for the governor told mystateline.com that the extension of the state’s disaster declaration allowed Illinois to have access to the national State Disaster Relief Fund.

The fund, the spokesperson told the website, helped the state get funds to offset the costs for health care workers, first responders and the Illinois National Guard during the pandemic.