East Central Reporter

Last Wednesday, Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) wrote a Facebook post criticizing Gov. J.B. Pritzker's decision to keep mask mandates in schools while relaxing the general mandate. 

The post followed Pritzker's announcement that if COVID-19 cases continued to decline throughout February, he would lift the indoor mask mandate Feb. 28. The exceptions would be hospitals, nursing homes and schools. The decision to keep the mandate for schools has been particularly controversial with some due to the school mandate being ruled "null and void" by a circuit court judge the previous week. 

"Pritzker’s mandate for schools was deemed null and void by a circuit court judge Friday. What part of 'null and void' does Governor JB Pritzker not understand?" Halbrook posted to Facebook. In addition to the text, his post contained a photo of the governor with the caption: "THIS. IS. SICK. Pritzker keeps schoolchildren masked, ends mandates for adults"

Pritzker called the ruling a "bad decision" and proceeded to appeal.

Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis) wasn't satisfied with this explanation. "I think it’s massively hypocritical of the governor to talk about one person making a decision when he’s been a one-man rule for the last 20 months,” Neimerg said.

“The governor has different mitigation standards for kids in a classroom than he does somebody going to a bar or a casino or anything else,” said Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham) during a news conference in Springfield. A week later, Wilhour would speak against the governor again. "What we've witnessed today is what it looks like when you allow a politician unchecked power over the people of Illinois for the past two years," Wilhour said. "We are seeing a governor that believes he has the absolute power and the security to do whatever the hell he wants without regard to facts, the data, common sense, statutory authority, the constitution or even rulings of court here in the state of Illinois."