Metro East Sun

Illinois state Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) says Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has only created more victims.

“The only thing Gov. Pritzker is utterly destroying is the Illinois economy,” Plummer said. “He's successfully removing small businesses and jobs across Illinois. He's eradicating individual rights.”

While Pritzker recently moved to unveil his five-phase plan of what it will take for him to fully restart the economy, Plummer said he only has himself to blame for many residents having already shut him out. Even as Pritzker talks about his region-by region plan already being in Phase 2, which allows nonessential stores to open on a limited basis, the governor admits he doesn’t envision the state reaching Phase 5, or fully reopening for business, until a vaccine or effective treatment for the virus becomes available.

“This is what I mean by the governor moving the goal posts,” he added. “The spread has been moderated, (personal protective equipment) is available, testing is up...but now we're shifting to having to eradicate something that everyone acknowledges could take years to eradicate?”

Plummer adds the fact that the governor has acted like a one-man army in imposing his restrictions just makes it harder to accept.

“Did the General Assembly have a voice in this? Heck no,” he said. “The governor and his allies have turned this into a one-man show. They refuse to let the General Assembly meet. The G.A. is the voice of the people and the Democrats have muzzled the voice of the people.”

Plummer points out that governors in New York, Ohio, California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas have all managed to be more transparent than in Illinois.

“They share data and the models behind their decision making; they don't do daily publicity stunts that do nothing to inform the public or provide real metrics,” he said. “This isn't a Republican and Democrat thing; this is an autocrat and economic depression thing.”