Metro East Sun

Republican State House candidate Amy Elik wants to see lawmakers in Springfield stand up to what she considers to be an out-of-control Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“The legislature should have safely convened weeks ago and done their jobs in Springfield, which they are well paid to do,” Elik, now running against incumbent state Rep. Monica Bristow (D-Alton) in the 111th District, told the Metro East Sun. “The courts will decide whether the governor's actions have been legal, but anyone can see that his actions are unreasonable and his timelines are too restrictive.”

All the contentiousness of the burning question of how the state should best deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic recently reached new heights when Pritzker threatened to withhold federal funding from counties that open before his stay-at-home order expires or before being authorized to so so under his five-phase Restore Illinois plan.

“The restrictions are inconsistent and unfair to small businesses,” Elik said. “The curve has flattened, yet the governor keeps moving the goal posts.”

Infuriating Elik all the more is her belief that the governor should have never been allowed to be in the position to make all the moves he has.

“It is past time and actually illegal that the governor has been able to make such critical decisions on his own,” the Alton resident said. “Our elected officials should be clamoring to speak for their constituents in Springfield, and work on a plan that safely gets us back in business sooner. We need more than an elected official content to sit back and defer to the governor.”

Elik said the biggest losers in such a scenario are all the small business owners now forced to assume most of the burden stemming from the governor’s one-sided policies.

“I support small businesses being given the opportunity to open under the same safety guidelines that the big box stores do,” she said. “Their contributions to our economy and communities are critically important, and many are willing to implement strict safety guidelines in order to have a chance to reopen as soon as possible.”