Will County Gazette

Republican nominee for Illinois' 75th House district Jed Davis recently criticized Gov. J.B. Pritzker for claiming that he has successfully dealt with the pandemic while also continuing to issue disaster proclamations.

On July 22, Pritzker issued his 32nd disaster proclamation, marking 895 days of emergency powers out of his 1,315 total days in office, Illinois Policy reported. Pritzker's first disaster proclamation came early in the pandemic when 46% of the state's intensive care unit beds were occupied. Currently, only around 4% of those beds are occupied by COVID patients.

Illinois' state legislature does not have the power to limit Pritzker's emergency powers, unlike legislatures in 34 other states. In neighboring states – including Michigan and Wisconsin – the governors need approval from the legislature to extend emergency powers.

The latest disaster order states, "This proclamation will assist the state in facilitating economic recovery for individuals and businesses in an effort to prevent further devastating consequences from the economic instability COVID-19 has caused.”

On July 21, Pritzker tweeted, "Illinois' economy is the best it's been in generations."

In a July 26 Facebook post, Davis shared an image showing when Illinois' neighboring states ended their disaster declarations: Michigan, October 2020; Wisconsin, March 2021; Indiana and Kentucky, March 2022; Iowa, February 2022; and Missouri, December 2021.

"JB can’t have it both ways. He can’t claim he’s managed COVID successfully and yet, more than two years later, still claim IL a disaster area. Just look at our neighbors…" Davis wrote in his Facebook post.

In June, Illinois' unemployment rate fell to 4.5% which is the lowest it has been since the onset of the pandemic, but still the fifth highest in the country, Capitol News Illinois reported. Illinois lags behind the national average unemployment rate, as well as that of neighboring states, as Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin's unemployment rates have all fallen to below 3%. Illinois' unemployment rate was the lowest it had ever been prior to the pandemic, standing at 3.5% in December 2019. The state's unemployment rate soared to 17.4% in April 2020, after "nonessential" businesses such as restaurants and theaters were forced to close.

Davis defeated incumbent David Welter in the June Republican primary for Illinois' 75th House district, according to Ballotpedia. In November, Davis will face off against Democrat Heidi Henry.