Dupage Policy Journal

Veteran state Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) is doing all she can to make sure the local bar and restaurant scene remains intact through the latest COVID-19 imposed restrictions.

Grant is eagerly spreading the word about a new DuPage County grant program offering in the neighborhood of $2.5 million to those businesses. The windfall comes at a time when Gov. J.B. Pritzker has moved to reenact restrictions that include banning indoor dining in at least 24 counties spread across the state that have experienced recent upticks in infection rates.  

“These new mitigations will decimate restaurants and bars that are already struggling,” Grant said. “I appreciate the county board’s willingness to lend a financial hand to help keep these businesses afloat.”

The new $2.5 million in funding brings the county’s overall grant total to at least $4 million since the pandemic first hit roughly eight months ago. Businesses deemed eligible for the program are eligible to receive up to $15,000 through the program, with the latest $2.5 million coming from the federal CARES Act.

Grant has long been a staunch critic of the governor’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, including blasting his recent decision to fine small business owners up to $2,500 for not enforcing the state’s mask mandate in their establishment.

“It is not fair or practical for business employees to act as the mask police,” Grant said. “The governor needs to quit writing policy and pushing it through as executive orders and emergency rules. No one is saying we shouldn’t have guidelines, but the governor needs to include the legislature in these decisions.”

With many small business owners still reeling from the governor’s first shutdown orders, Grant wonders how much more Pritzker and Democrats think they can take.

“I think it would be terribly unfair to put that burden on any business,” she added of the fines. “If the governor wants to make a proclamation stipulating any of this, he needs to call lawmakers back in session and do it in a setting where all the pieces of government can have a voice and are able to express their views.”