McHenry Times

State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-St. Charles) is calling on Democratic lawmakers in Springfield to do the job he argues they’ve been elected to do.

“I am both amazed and outraged that despite our sworn duty to support both the Illinois and the United States Constitutions, not even one of my Democrat colleagues has agreed to join my efforts ending this unconstitutional abuse of power by executive orders,” Ugaste recently told Wirepoints after legislation he previously proposed that would have limited the governor’s ability to issue consecutive emergency orders without approval from the General Assembly stalled in the legislature.

Ugaste notes that since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has issued 24 emergency orders.

“The governor’s abuse of power and sidelining the legislature, a co-equal branch of government, is not only a breach of his oath of office, but it is incomprehensible that any person raised in this great nation believes they should solely exercise that much authority over the lives of nearly 13 million people,” he said. 

Both Ugaste (House Bill 843) and fellow Republican Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) (SB 103) introduced bills in 2021 deigned to limit the governor’s executive reach, but with Republicans in the super minority in Springfield both stalled in the legislature.