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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Illinois is currently facing a global outbreak of
3the new coronavirus, a pandemic called COVID-19, which has led
4to widespread illness and death around the world, including in
5Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Governor of Illinois has issued a series of
7emergency executive orders in response to the pandemic,
8ordering the shutdown of a wide variety of businesses, places
9of religious worship, places of education, and places of
10nonprofit enterprise throughout the State; and
 
11    WHEREAS, These shutdown orders have caused devastating
12harm to many Illinoisans who are already affected by the
13pandemic; and
 
14    WHEREAS, To slowly reverse the effects of these devastating
15shutdowns and executive orders, the Governor of Illinois has
16issued what he and his senior staff call the Restore Illinois
17Plan, a plan to "reopen Illinois" on the basis of defined
18variables based on data gathered throughout four huge
19geographic regions of the State; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Gathering data on the basis of these huge State
21geographic sub-regions will force this urgent work of

 

 

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1re-opening to be accomplished much more slowly than it would
2otherwise be accomplished, with devastating secondary
3consequences to Illinoisans of all groups and social
4backgrounds; furthermore, "Restoring Illinois" on the basis of
5this mega data is completely dismissive and disrespectful of
6the current work being done by Illinoisans of all economic and
7social categories who are fighting as members of their local
8communities to reduce the rate of COVID-19 viral transmission
9from person to person; and
 
10    WHEREAS, As locally elected lawmakers and members of a
11co-equal branch of government, we in the Illinois House of
12Representatives can see and appreciate these efforts to fight
13COVID-19 up close; it implies no disrespect to the Governor of
14Illinois in the midst of the immense burdens he now bears to
15suggest that we can see these local efforts as well as he can
16or better than he can; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The Restore Illinois policy constitutes legal
18action of immense significance to the people of Illinois; this
19being so, this policy should be drafted as a law, debated as a
20law, considered as a law by members from all parts of Illinois,
21and enacted by legislative majority vote as a law; and
 
22    WHEREAS, As possessors of local information on the fight
23against COVID-19, we, the members of the Illinois House of

 

 

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1Representatives, together with our colleagues in the Illinois
2Senate, should play a role in the reshaping of Restore
3Illinois, so that it truly restores Illinois in fact and not
4just in hope; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Due to the state of the calendar of the Illinois
6General Assembly at the time of the preparation of this
7resolution, there is ample time prior to the May 31, 2020
8adjournment deadline for healthy discussion and debate on this
9issue of immense importance to our neighbors and constituents;
10therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
12HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
13the Restore Illinois plan promulgated by the Governor of
14Illinois that is in effect as of May 23, 2020 should be
15re-drafted as legislative language and submitted to the
16Illinois General Assembly for discussion, debate, and legal
17enactment as statutory law; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That we pledge to discuss and debate the Restore
19Illinois plan in good faith, and we pledge that the suggested
20corrections we will make to it will be based not on political
21grandstanding but on informed public-health information about
22the situations in our own communities; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That we pledge that we will stand with the people
2of Illinois to reopen our State safely and with the welfare of
3all of us in mind, including those among us who are most at
4risk from the dangerous virus that is causing this pandemic;
5and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to
7Governor JB Pritzker, Speaker of the House of Representatives
8Michael J. Madigan, and President of the Illinois Senate Don
9Harmon.