Illinois State House District 41 issued the following announcement on May 8.
Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), which handles unemployment claims for the state, reported that more than one million Illinoisans have lost their jobs since March 1. It’s a startling statistic and represents a level of unemployment not seen since the Great Depression. The stay home order was the right thing to do, but we have flattened the COVID-19 curve and the Pritzker administration can no longer ignore the staggering effects his executive orders are having on our economy.
Earlier this week, Governor Pritzker presented his plan to reopen the State of Illinois. His plan seeks to restore the Illinois economy and return things to normal through five steps over four regions. When I heard a plan was being presented, I was initially pleased to know we finally had a blueprint to lead Illinois safely and responsibly forward toward full economic recovery. But after I read the plan, it became clear to me that the legislature must return to Springfield immediately so we can provide critical essential checks and balances over the activity of the executive branch of state government. The Pritzker plan will only drive unemployment numbers higher and create more economic devastation. Please help me send the Governor a message. If you agree that lawmakers need to return to Springfield right away, please sign this petition.
Governor Pritzker’s “Restore Illinois” plan was created without any input from the General Assembly. In fact, legislators found out about the plan when everyone else did, as he presented it at his Tuesday 2:30 press briefing. Imagine it. A document of that magnitude, that affects the life and livelihood of every Illinoisan was created and presented without any review or vetting or guidance by the elected representatives who serve Illinois’ 12.7 million residents.
It includes a description of each phase and the benchmarks that must be met before any region may advance to the next phase of recovery. According to the Governor, all of Illinois is currently in Phase 2, and the soonest any region can move to Phase 3 is May 28. Put into play, the Pritzker plan is essentially a 12-month or longer stay at home plan for the people in this area.
Some members of the House Republican Leadership Team held an online news conference on Wednesday, where they denounced the Governor’s reopen plan and called on the Governor or Speaker Madigan to call lawmakers back to the Capitol.
Like the top headline from the Thursday Chicago Tribune says, the Pritzker plan does not work. There are several problems with his plan that could have been prevented if he had taken the time to consult the legislature, local municipal leaders, or with experts from the business community. Just a few significant problems with his plan include:
Four extremely large regions: The designated regions are way too big. The State of New York has 10 regions for their reopening plan. Illinois has only four. The Governor said his regions were based on the existing Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) map. The EMS map includes 11 districts, but he combined them arbitrarily into just four. In this plan, DuPage and Will Counties will be treated exactly the same as downtown Chicago. Rural counties like McHenry, Kendall and Grundy were also lumped in with Chicago. It lacks all common sense.
28 days between changes in phases: A 14-day benchmark period is the standard being used in reopening proposals, yet Illinois is requiring double that amount before any region may move to the next step in economic recovery. No other state with a regional reopening plan is utilizing more than a 14-day benchmark period.
Discrimination against small businesses continues: Under the Pritzker plan, you can still go to big box stores like Target and Walmart to buy furniture, clothing, shoes, and flowers, but you can’t go in a stand-alone furniture store, clothing store, shoe store or florist regardless of their ability to operate safely. This again lacks all common sense. This is killing small business and is resulting in an unnecessary loss of jobs and businesses. It also adds to the stress on Illinois’ unemployment system (IDES), which has been an utter failure during this pandemic.
Salons and barbers remain shuttered until Phase 4: In a best-case scenario, you’ll have to wait until the end of June for these services regardless of the array of protocols that could be put in place to maintain safety. For those of us grouped in with Chicago, it will most likely be much longer.
Municipal and county leaders have no authority over reopening decisions: Rather than allowing local experts to determine the best path forward for their regions, the Governor has determined the best course for all Illinoisans. There is no flexibility within the plan to account for rural areas that have been lumped into extremely large regions with more populated urban areas.
The lack of full transparency continues: The Governor mentions daily that he is relying on “data” and “science” to drive the response to COVID-19, but made no mention of any data he used to create his reopening plan.
This plan exceeds to Governor’s 30-day emergency powers: Getting to full reopening will take several more months (if not years since phase 5 only occurs when a vaccine is widely available). This means he will continually need to issue emergency declarations that grant him virtually unlimited authority for the 30 days each one is in effect. This underscores the importance of reconvening the legislative branch. Through our co-equal branches, the legislative branch writes the laws and the executive branch’s responsibility is to implement the laws we approve. Why is the Governor setting public policy?
Zero oversight of his actions by the legislature: This plan does not include any guidance or oversight by the General Assembly. Governor Pritzker should be subject to the checks and balances built into our Constitution’s co-equal branches of government.
The Governor, House Speaker Mike Madigan, and Senate President Don Harmon are the only three people with the authority to call us back into session. The Governor’s Illinois Department of Public Health has created a plan that would allow the legislature to safely reconvene. One of these leaders needs to do the right thing and call us back. Legislators need to get back to work so all Illinoisans can get back to work!
Governor Ignores House Republicans’ COVID-19 Reopening & Recovery Framework
A comprehensive economic reopening and recovery framework created by House Republicans (HGOP) was shared with Governor Pritzker prior to the surprise unveiling of his own recovery plan. Even though he had our suggestions in hand, none of the HGOP ideas were included in the plan the Governor unveiled on Tuesday.
Our plan balances important public health priorities with the need for businesses to reopen so Illinoisans can get back to work. The HGOP plan calls for a regional approach utilizing ten economic recovery zones with a second option to allow for a county-led approach. Through this approach, community and economic leaders would work in cooperation with county health departments to drive decisions at a more localized level, with oversight and input by the State. Widespread testing, contact tracing and reporting of COVID-19 cases would be an integral part of the HGOP plan, and benchmarks similar to the markers used in the Pritzker plan would be utilized, but without the 28-day data point requirement. No zone or county could simply decree that no restrictions apply.
Plans would outline which data sets would be required for the loosening of restrictions, as well as include a contingency plan for the implementation of tighter restrictions if cases trend back upward. Each smaller regional plan would require the approval of relevant county boards, county health departments and hospitals, and submission to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The HGOP plan also calls for the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral COVID-19 Economic Recovery Commission, which would be assembled immediately and include public health experts, business and labor leaders, economic policy experts, educators, community leaders and state and local elected officials, including some members of the General Assembly. This group would work collaboratively to forward COVID-19-related recovery legislation to the House and Senate for consideration. The joint commission would reflect the geographic balance of the state and have no partisan majority, similar to the Illinois Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR).
If you support this kind of reopening framework as opposed to what the Governor has presented, please consider signing this petition.
Continue Sharing Your Ideas for How to Reopen the Economy!
Now is the time to have all ideas on the table. If you have an idea for how we can put people back to work while protecting the publics’ health, please share it through an ideas portal. We are collecting any and all ideas so we can continue to present viable options for moving toward economic recovery.
Independent Contractors and 1099 Workers Can Begin to File for Unemployment on Monday, May 11
Independent contractors, sole proprietors, gig workers and those who receive 1099 tax forms, who up to this point have not been eligible for jobless benefits, can apply for out of work benefits beginning Monday, May 11. The new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provides 100% federally-funded unemployment benefits to out-of-work Illinoisans who are not eligible for the state’s traditional unemployment programs.
Before becoming eligible for PUA benefits, this classification of out-of-work Illinoisans must have first applied through the regular IDES unemployment channels and been denied benefits. It is a required first step, because the letter of denial of benefits is mandatory for determining eligibility within the new PUA system.
The new portal for the PUA program opens on Monday as part of the IDES website. PUA claims will be backdated to ensure benefits from the filer’s first week of job loss, with an earliest unemployment date of February 2, 2020, and benefits will continue as long as the individual remains unemployed due to COVID-19, but no later than December 26 of this year.
House Republicans Create List of Priorities that will Aid Illinois’ Economic Recovery
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and the March stay home order was put into place, House Republicans created an internal Economic Recovery Working Group. Chaired by Deputy Republican Leader Dan Brady (R-Bloomington), the group held a series of virtual meetings to address the inevitable economic devastation that was sure to follow the state shut down. The loss of small businesses and the jobs they provide would have a long term impact on all of our communities. Through the course of their meetings and with the input of leaders from around the state, the working group outlined the following priorities that will aid in the economic recovery of Illinois.
Repeal Progressive Tax Constitutional Amendment – The world has changed so much in just a matter of weeks; we too must change how we look at state government. The General Assembly needs to remove the Progressive Tax Amendment from the ballot, repeal the accompanying high tax rates, and commit to no new taxes. Businesses and residents need certainty in these chaotic times.
Reexamine the Minimum Wage Mandate – The General Assembly failed to recognize regionalization and other factors as it rushed to pass a minimum wage bill last year. An additional government mandate creating higher costs for our employers when they are in such a perilous position needs to be re-evaluated immediately.
Enhanced Access to Government Services – Residents of our state should not be burdened with the red tape of Illinois government during these stressful times. Professional, firearm, driver and educational licenses should all be automatically extended and an easy process should be created for first time applicants and for renewals of expired licenses. This will help get people back into the Illinois workforce. Additionally, fees ranging from starting a small business to trailer licensing should be reduced.
Property Tax Payment Fairness – Many homeowners have lost sources of income during this time, so we must remove late fee penalties from property taxes and stop all tax sales in an effort to help them stay on their feet and in their homes.
Property Tax Relief – For decades, Illinois has struggled with high property taxes and the General Assembly has failed to deliver any meaningful relief. To help our struggling homeowners, farmers, businesses and local governments, we must look to cut property tax bills in meaningful ways, including by reducing state mandates.
Protect Unemployment Insurance Benefits – Closures of non-essential businesses and stay at home orders have resulted in mass layoffs in many sectors of our economy. Employers should not be punished with higher insurance costs due to mandated closures. Unemployed workers experiencing delays in benefits processing deserve better customer service from IDES.
Enhance Business Liquidity – As the pandemic continues, sales and payroll tax collections should be deferred. All businesses across the state should be covered by the deferral to make sure they have the necessary cash flow available to them. The state should also institute a tax credit to incentivize hiring of Illinois residents and college graduates.
Creation of Business Loan Program – Dedicated state resources like cannabis and liquor taxes should be temporarily redirected to create a statewide microloan program for small businesses to give them access to much needed capital.
Standardizing Essential Businesses and Working towards Reopening – It is confusing for many businesses to figure out what is “essential.” A shoe store may not be deemed essential, yet a big box store can sell shoes. We must quickly work to redefine what is essential and create a practical regional approach to begin reopening our storefronts when it is deemed safe to do so.
Automatic Sunset Extensions – At a time when there is great uncertainty about the General Assembly’s session calendar, we owe it to residents across the state to automatically extend all sunsets that expire in the next 3 years. This is especially important for our healthcare workers as they have many more pressing issues to address outside of lobbying the General Assembly.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Lastly, this weekend we celebrate Mother’s Day. With stay home orders preventing travel and keeping many families apart right now, if you’re lucky enough to still have a mom in your life, please make sure you do what you can to make the day special for her. Pick up the phone and call her, send her a card, leave a gift or some flowers on her front porch, or have grandkids decorate the driveway or sidewalk with chalk art.
My mother was an extraordinary woman whom I think about each and every day. I miss her guidance, her always-present smile, her wit, and her ever-present elegance. This Mother’s Day especially let’s all be thankful for the good things we have around us wherever we find them
Original source can be found here.
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