HR0859 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0859 LRB101 21562 MST 72483 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Illinois is currently facing a global outbreak of the new coronavirus, a pandemic called COVID-19, which has led to widespread illness and death around the world, including in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, The Governor of Illinois has issued a series of emergency executive orders in response to the pandemic, ordering the shutdown of a wide variety of businesses, places of religious worship, places of education, and places of nonprofit enterprise throughout the State; and

WHEREAS, These shutdown orders have caused devastating harm to many Illinoisans who are already affected by the pandemic; and

WHEREAS, To slowly reverse the effects of these devastating shutdowns and executive orders, the Governor of Illinois has issued what he and his senior staff call the Restore Illinois Plan, a plan to "reopen Illinois" on the basis of defined variables based on data gathered throughout four huge geographic regions of the State; and

WHEREAS, Gathering data on the basis of these huge State geographic sub-regions will force this urgent work of re-opening to be accomplished much more slowly than it would otherwise be accomplished, with devastating secondary consequences to Illinoisans of all groups and social backgrounds; furthermore, "Restoring Illinois" on the basis of this mega data is completely dismissive and disrespectful of the current work being done by Illinoisans of all economic and social categories who are fighting as members of their local communities to reduce the rate of COVID-19 viral transmission from person to person; and

WHEREAS, As locally elected lawmakers and members of a co-equal branch of government, we in the Illinois House of Representatives can see and appreciate these efforts to fight COVID-19 up close; it implies no disrespect to the Governor of Illinois in the midst of the immense burdens he now bears to suggest that we can see these local efforts as well as he can or better than he can; and

WHEREAS, The Restore Illinois policy constitutes legal action of immense significance to the people of Illinois; this being so, this policy should be drafted as a law, debated as a law, considered as a law by members from all parts of Illinois, and enacted by legislative majority vote as a law; and

WHEREAS, As possessors of local information on the fight against COVID-19, we, the members of the Illinois House of Representatives, together with our colleagues in the Illinois Senate, should play a role in the reshaping of Restore Illinois, so that it truly restores Illinois in fact and not just in hope; and

WHEREAS, Due to the state of the calendar of the Illinois General Assembly at the time of the preparation of this resolution, there is ample time prior to the May 31, 2020 adjournment deadline for healthy discussion and debate on this issue of immense importance to our neighbors and constituents; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Restore Illinois plan promulgated by the Governor of Illinois that is in effect as of May 23, 2020 should be re-drafted as legislative language and submitted to the Illinois General Assembly for discussion, debate, and legal enactment as statutory law; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we pledge to discuss and debate the Restore Illinois plan in good faith, and we pledge that the suggested corrections we will make to it will be based not on political grandstanding but on informed public-health information about the situations in our own communities; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we pledge that we will stand with the people of Illinois to reopen our State safely and with the welfare of all of us in mind, including those among us who are most at risk from the dangerous virus that is causing this pandemic; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to Governor JB Pritzker, Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael J. Madigan, and President of the Illinois Senate Don Harmon.