Will County Gazette

Republican candidate for governor Gary Rabine thinks it's past time that Gov. J.B. Pritzker put the will of the people first when it comes to COVID-19 and school guidelines.

“Stop bullying Illinois children into getting an experimental vaccine,” Rabine recently posted on Facebook and Twitter. “I’m calling on JB Pritzker to immediately issue an executive order banning K-12 school districts, private schools and colleges in Illinois from mandating and requiring students to get a COVID vaccine.”

Rabine’s words come in the wake of Lewis University joining the growing list of state universities now requiring that all students be vaccinated before returning to campus for the upcoming fall semester. The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Community College Board also recently emerged to push for students be mandated to receive COVID shots.

Rabine meanwhile wonders how the governor in good faith could mandate such stringent rules when of the three COVID vaccinations currently available only the Pfizer shot is approved by the FDA for emergency use in children ages 12-18.

Unvaccinated students will be required to wear face coverings and submit to on-campus testing that includes multiple checks each week.

Rabine says he’s seen it all before when it comes to Pritzker and what he sees as his total disregard for the common person in enacting many of the policies he has.

“I’m running because I can see my family, my friends’ families and so many others that just want to get out of here,” he recently told IllinoisChannelTV. “It bothers me so bad. I’ve been in business for 40 years, the last 20 building businesses as a leader, understanding what great leadership looks like and it’s not what we see in our governor and our mayor of Chicago. I’m confident we need a leadership mindset that understands how to build leaders and doesn’t rule like royalty.”

In conceding that the job won't come easily, Rabine adds he’s certain his experience make him the person to get it done.

“In businesses and life you have strong differentia that make you, bring a different light to anything,” he said. “I understand how it works attracting jobs to our state and we do a lousy job of that. I understand how it works when it comes to taxing people out of state and we do a good job of that."