McHenry Times

Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) called out Gov. J.B. Pritzker for his “abuse” of authority — pointing out how Pritzker’s mask mandates had been struck down.

“All three layers of Illinois’ judicial system, plus the legislature’s bipartisan and bicameral Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) have weighed in on Gov. Pritzker’s mask, vaccine, and testing mandate for schools,” he said on his website. “Yet we still have a Governor who is unwilling to acknowledge that his actions represented an abuse of his authority. In fact, he actually claimed the decisions represented a ‘victory.’”

Wilcox called Pritzker's action "overreach."

“This entire situation is an example of what happens when one man tries to unilaterally control every decision relative to how Illinoisans live and work during a pandemic," Wilcox said. "It was nothing short of an uprising by parents when they had had enough. They knew their rights were being violated and stood united against the Governor’s overreach.” 

On Feb. 25, the Illinois Supreme Court denied Gov. Pritzker’s appeal to the Appellate Court decision on his school mask, vaccine, and testing mandate.

The Court also ruled to stay the temporary restraining order (TRO) entered by the Circuit Court of Sangamon County.

NBC Chicago reported on Feb. 25 that the Illinois State Supreme Court “denied the appeal, calling it ‘moot,’ but also vacated a restraining order issued by a lower court, meaning a statewide mask requirement in schools could be instituted in the future.”

In reponse to the ruling, Pritzker wrote: “I’m gratified that the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s restraining order, meaning that if a school mask mandate needs to go into effect in the future, we continue to have that authority."