McHenry Times

State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) wishes he and other Illinois lawmakers had more of a voice in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan for reopening the state economy.

“I’m glad he has a plan and I’m happy to see he took into consideration some of the ideas put forward by Republicans like making the reopening regionalized, but overall I think it should have been more of a collaborative effort,” Ugaste told the McHenry Times. “I know you have to pay attention to the science, but I still don’t think it takes into consideration all the different parts of the state enough.”

Pritzker’s plan outlines instructions for a region-by-region reopening of the economy that recognizes some areas of the state may be ready to move to the next phase faster than others. With the state in Phase 2 of the plan, Pritzker doesn’t anticipate the state moving into Phase 5, a complete reopening of the economy, until there is a vaccine or highly effective treatment for COVID-19 available.

“The governor definitely needs to be working with other lawmakers because the way it is (written) some areas of the state will see their small business industry completed crushed,” Ugaste said. “Talk of waiting for a vaccine or complete eradication of the virus is not an option for a lot of these operations.”

Ugaste argues things don’t have to be that way, especially given how much more is now known about the novel coronavirus compared to when it first emerged.

“I would like to think that if a big box store can use social distancing and other precautions to keep safe enough to operate so could a small business,” he said. “I think we need to be doing all we can do to help our small business owners remain in business.”