Will County Gazette

Fearing that more than a few small businesses may never get to the point of reaching some of the standards outlined by Gov. J.B. Pritzker for reopening in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, veteran state Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) is co-sponsoring the Fair Business Treatment Act.

“The hurdles are simply too high,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette of the governor’s five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan that establishes either a vaccine being found or an effective form of treatment as a prerequisite for fully restarting the economy. “We need to start calculating the human toll this lockdown is taking on the people of this state. Lives are being shortened and destroyed by the mitigation were taking.”

Pritzker’s plan also calls for a region-by-region restart to the economy that recognizes some parts of the state may be ready to return to normal sooner than others.   

Batinick argues things should have never been that way to begin with.

“It’s simply not fair,” he said of big-box stores like Walmart still being able to open for business while most small business owners have been sidelined since the governor’s statewide stay-at-home order went into effect in March. “If a product is going to be allowed to be sold in a community, why would you want everyone in the community going to the same crowded building? If people are going to buy those products, it is better to spread them out.”

Co-sponsoring the legislation with state Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), Batinick adds the status quo "doesn’t promote safety; it is creating a situation where large corporate giants are cannibalizing smaller retailers.”

Batinick is also arguing that lawmakers are not being heard enough on the issue of what direction the state is taking. He is imploring the governor to call the General Assembly back into session in Springfield.