Lake County Gazette

With Illinois lawmakers set to return to Springfield, Republican statehouse candidate Dan Yost is hoping what he sees as the Legislature's dereliction of duty in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t allowed Gov. J.B. Pritzker to inflict permanent damage.

“I believe that the governor has overstepped his authority, but let’s be clear, his actions had the tacit approval of the legislature,” Yost, who is running against incumbent Rep. Joyce Mason (D-Gurnee) in the 61st District, told the Lake County Gazette. “Whether they meet or not, the legislators' silence is the same as their approval of his actions, and the unchecked power he wielded was a direct result of the legislators’ abdication of their duty as a co-equal branch of government.”

Faced with growing resistance, noted in a Chicago Tribue May report to Pritzker's stay-at-home order he initially enacted two-months ago and recently moved to extend through the end of this month, the governor suggested withholding funding to counties seeking to reopen before his executive order expires. The governor has said he may be willing to have law enforcement take action against businesses that might seek to reopen before a plan is in place. 

“There has been a lack of transparency during this crisis which, when combined with the abandonment by our Legislature and the heavy-handed approach the governor has taken, has only served to polarize us more,” Yost said. “We need to be collaborating with everyone willing to participate to strike a balance that both protects the lives of our friends and neighbors but still allows families to put a roof over their heads, food on the table and clothes on their backs.”

From there, Yost argues the hole the state has to dig itself out of has only become deeper.

“As depressing as the lockdown itself has been, waiting for the government to decide how much you’ll earn, when and if you’ll get your check and how long it will last is not only demoralizing but a matter of public health in and of itself,” he said. “Small businesses are being destroyed each and every day, and with each small business that disappears, more jobs slip away into oblivion. I don’t just worry about small businesses surviving in Illinois, I worry about families surviving in Illinois.”