McHenry Times

Casting the ongoing problems with the state’s Department of Employment Security website as the “final straw,” veteran Illinois state Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) has launched a recall effort to remove Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

"The governor has had ample time to fix this website,” Skillicorn told the McHenry Times. “I called him out on it, and nothing has been addressed nor has there been a plan presented to fix the problems. Enough is enough. The incompetence cannot continue."

Skillicorn has noted that since Pritzker enacted his stay-at-home order two months ago as a way of mitigating the spread of COVID-19, the governor allowed a security breach of the IDES system as another example of his most egregious missteps.

"The U.S. Department of Labor offered to help Illinois, but our governor refused the help,” Skillicorn said. “In typical Chicago Democrat fashion, the governor decided the best way to fix the website was to hand out a lavish no-bid contract. Now, secure data has been unleashed into the public domain. It is an epic failure. I have constituents who tell me they have dialed in hundreds of times a day for weeks without getting through.”

Besides thousands of voter signatures, the state constitution requires the signatures of at least 30 members of the General Assembly to start the recall process. Skillicorn said GOP colleagues Brad Halbrook of Shelbyville, Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City, and Darren Bailey of Xenia have already agreed to sign the petition.

Skillicorn added the governor’s handling of the coronavirus crisis hasn’t done much to endear him to voters across the state.

“The rights of honest business owners are being taken away while our governor releases murders from prison,” he said. “The constitutional rights of the people have been usurped long enough. It is time to recall Gov. J.B. Pritzker.”