State Representative Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, released the following statement today in response the bicameral Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) voting 9-0-2 today to block re-implementation of Governor JB Pritzker’s mask mandate for K-12 public and private schools in Illinois:
“Today’s JCAR decision is a big win. Currently, there is no legal authority or emergency rule that allows Governor Pritzker to force schoolchildren to continue to wear masks. Governor Pritzker has done nothing to clear up the confusion he’s created, forcing chaos on children, parents, teachers, and schools. JB Pritzker has been defeated in court and now his emergency rule has been defeated by a legislative body. The Governor needs to accept the court’s decision and recognize that a co-equal branch of government has weighed in. The legislature has blocked the Governor’s emergency rule that says kids have to be in masks. The Governor should drop his continued insistence on school mask mandates.”
The Governor’s emergency rule on COVID mitigations for Illinois schools expired on Sunday, February 13. The Administration immediately re-filed the rule on Monday, putting it back into effect unless JCAR voted affirmatively to block it with a minimum of 8 members on the 12-member committee. Nine members voted to suspend the Governor’s emergency rule, with zero voting to keep it in place and two members voting “Present.”
Representative Sosnowski serves the 69th District which includes portions of Winnebago and Boone Counties.