A SLIDING SCALE OF UKASES.

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker (D-Lake Geneva)'s corona tyranny has not protected Illinoisans, but the way he responds to that reality is to pretend that freedom is on the way.

Pritzker said the state would expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility starting April 12 to all Illinois residents 16 and older, outside of Chicago.

The governor also announced a “bridge phase” between the state’s current Phase 4 and a full reopening of the state in Phase 5. The bridge phase will open up capacity limits at businesses, sporting events, theaters and more.

The state will advance to the bridge plan once 70% of Illinois residents aged 65 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the state doesn’t see a reversal in the current trends for COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. As of Thursday morning, Pritzker said the state stood at 58% of those 65-and-older having received at least one shot.

In the bridge phase, restaurants can increase indoor capacity to 30% and outdoor dining capacity to 50%; health and fitness centers, offices, personal care businesses, museums, spectator events, theaters and performing arts, and zoos can increase to 60% capacity.

The bridge phase will last 28 days, Pritzker said, which is two coronavirus incubation cycles, for monitoring.

Other Illinois officials are also envisioning a day when the tyranny ends. But they don't envision an end to the political conditions that made tyranny possible.  It takes an opposition party to do that. Twelve months, 76 executive orders, and zero input by legislators.

Since the plan was created and publicized, rules, metrics and guidance have changed quickly and regularly, and the goal posts for returning to normalcy keep moving. But one thing has remained constant over the last year: Governor Pritzker still insists on unilaterally controlling every aspect of the COVID-19 response, and he refuses to allow for input from the legislative branch. The governor has issued 76 executive orders over the last year, and during that same time period, legislators have been offered exactly zero opportunities to weigh in on COVID-19 policy decisions.

The authors of the Illinois Constitution were clear in their intent when they created three co-equal branches of government. The legislative branch is responsible for writing and approving the laws, the executive branch is responsible for enacting the laws, and the judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the laws. Each branch is considered equal in its power- or at least it is supposed to. Our laws allow the governor to issue executive orders during emergencies. Those orders have a 30-day shelf life. The authors of the Constitution never intended for one individual to assume almost full control over the running of the state for months and months, and they never intended for the executive branch to become the policy-making branch.

So far, the state’s COVID-19 response efforts under JB Pritzker and his administration have been marked with controversy. We’ve seen inconsistent standards for different regions, an unemployment benefit system that remains broken, and a very rocky start to the vaccination program. Our continued calls for increased transparency and legislative involvement fall on deaf ears, and now we are told that the metrics required for full opening will change yet again, with the unveiling of a new phase, a “4.5” phase, before our state can enter Phase 5.

As local legislators, we are elected to serve as the voice of roughly 216,000 Illinoisans. Our constituents’ opinions are valid and important, yet their voices are being silenced because we are being silenced. We know our districts, and have a deep understanding of our communities’ unique characteristics. Yet our role has been marginalized as we are kept on the sideline for critical decisions that have decimated our business community and sent over one million Illinoisans to the unemployment line.

That editorial is from members of the legislative Republican caucus, and it's going to be on them to propose a more polished libertarian-populist message.  Now is the time to tie Democrats to softness on crime (that's a claim of long standing), softness on communism (ditto), and to the corona tyranny which failed to slow the spread but spread mortality from other causes, and economic distress.  First, get that majority.  then take the necessary steps to further limit the emergency authority of governors. "In the last year we’ve been locked in our homes, had our economy shut down, been forced to wear masks and watched as COVID-positive patients were brought into nursing homes. All because one man decreed it from St. Paul.” Or Springfield.

Alternatively, legislative Republicans in Illinois could encourage their colleagues in county government to show some independence.  Washington County, Wisconsin, executive Josh Schoemann shows the way.

"While the needs of public health, at the onset of a novel virus, took on additional weight and attention; so now, as the vaccine and mitigation strategies force the virus to recede, we must recalibrate to fully restore balance with economic, mental, spiritual, and social health needs that have been exacerbated by COVID-19," he said in the release.

He said the health department would continue to support the community by providing testing and access to the vaccine.

The county fair, church festivals, and beer gardens are on for the summer.