Metro East Sun

A trio of Republican lawmakers are accusing Gov. J.B. Pritzker of manipulating the system when he made his last four appointments to the Prisoner Review Board.

Despite the state constitution stipulating that board members appointed by Pritzker be confirmed by the Senate, over the last two years four of the governor’s appointees have not been confirmed. 

Board members are entrusted with deciding if and when inmates should be released from custody.

“This is about the process and the process being manipulated,” state Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) said in a video posted to YouTube. “This is a clear and intentional manipulation of the process by the governor.”

State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) agrees.

“The fact is regardless of what circumstances there are with different cases, each of these individuals should come before the committee so we can ask questions,” she said. “Let’s face it, these people have a tremendous amount of power and to have that power not be checked by an elected body is really not acceptable.”

State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) says it’s all by design.

“They were appointed and were supposed to go back before a committee,” he said. “Then they took away the appointments and reappointed them. This maneuver by itself is a shady maneuver.”

Plummer is hoping to put an end to it all with Senate Bill 1475.

“Senate Bill 1475 would require that members of the Prison Review Board be confirmed by the Senate in a timely manner,” he said. “What’s happening now should never be allowed to happen again.”

Pritzker is also being accused of going back on his word when it comes to his latest budget proposal.

“I am disheartened by the budget proposal that violates the agreement that he and I made just two years ago,” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin told the DuPage Policy Journal. He pointed to several bipartisan business reforms that were passed in 2019 with the support of the governor that are now on the chopping block.

In particular, Durkin charged the governor promised not to eliminate nor destroy the Invest in Kids program.

“Now, here we are,” he said. “Two years later, Gov. Pritzker wants to call these programs loopholes. These are not loopholes. They are incentives to grow jobs and educate our children. There is a difference between loopholes and incentives.”