East Central Reporter

Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to put aside his rigid form of governing and immediately convene a session of the General Assembly to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think the General Assembly should be back in session right now so the voices of our constituents can be heard,” Miller told the East Central Reporter. “To continue doing things this way is a disservice to the people of this state, especially in Downstate areas.”

Miller’s suggestion comes after Pritzker announced plans to extend his stay-at-home order through the end of May, assuring that countless businesses across the state will be forced to remain closed or to continue operating in a limited capacity.

“I think it’s one of those things where he is one of those politicians that are 100-percent invested in a false narrative and to concede that the data about this virus has now changed is an admission of that,” Miller said. “We started off with a certain model and now we find the data was wrong and the model was wrong, and King Pritzker can’t handle that.”

Miller says that he fears the damage the governor’s actions are having on businesses Downstate won’t be easy to come back from.

“He’s destroying Downstate Illinois,” Miller said. “We’ve got hospitals down here losing up to $100,000 a day because they’re being limited in anticipation of a coronavirus surge that never came. This governor needs to show that he actually cares about all of Illinois.”

Miller added that one way Pritzker can do that is by pulling the plug on the progressive income tax proposal he has been pushing since his days on the campaign trail.

“It would be a complete disaster to try to raise anyone’s taxes right now,” Miller said. “The progressive tax idea never made sense, and now it makes even less sense with everything that’s happening.”