Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) has had enough of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s one-man show in his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are a co-equal branch of government and he needs to give us a better understanding of how he plans to open up this state,” Grant told the DuPage Policy Journal. “He’s said that he’s using science to make his decisions but he won’t share any of the findings with other lawmakers. We need to know and we need to have a voice in the process.”

Grant said Pritzker’s recent decision to extend his statewide stay-at-home order through the end of May is just more of the same.

“He should be willing to work with us, but he’s done everything but that,” she said. “I think it’s because he wants to have everything done just his way.”

For one thing, Grant said she can’t begin to imagine why Pritzker would still be pushing the progressive tax proposal he has supported since his days on the campaign trail, given everything else that the state is now forced to deal with.

“I didn’t vote I favor of the tax to start with and I think it makes even less sense now,” she said. “I hope people understand it for what it truly is. I think it’s a terrible idea. It’s bad enough that people are already leaving this state in droves and now to add this at a time when we’re already dealing with a pandemic will only make matters worse.”

Since the governor moved to enact his stay-at-home order in late March, forcing countless small business owners to bolt their doors or drastically limit operations, the state’s unemployment rate has spiraled to 4.6%.