South Central Reporter

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Xenia) is looking to empower small business owners in their lingering battle with Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“No government agency or law enforcement can just come in and tell you to shut down,” Wilhour said. “They can’t take your licenses without due process. Not complying with the governor’s recommendations is not a legal reason to pull licenses or shut down a business.”

Citing rising infection rates, the governor recently moved to reenact COVID-19 restrictions that include banning indoor bar and restaurant service in a flood of counties across the state, quickly raising the ire of many small business owners still reeling from the impact of the governor’s initial shutdown.

“Read the actual legal statutes so you will know how to respond to government potentially overstepping their authority,” Wilhour added. “If there is an issue, just simply tell them to bring you a court order if they are going to close you down. Everyone should be open.”

Wilhour has long been one of the most vocal critics of the governor’s handling of the crisis, including recently taking him to task for not thinking through what he sees as the total impact of his actions.

“That’s a factor that should have been taken into greater consideration when all these highly restrictive lockdown policies were put in place,” he told the South Central Reporter. “We’re not just talking economic calamity that results from these shutdowns. The increases in depression and anxiety are primed to take more years in life than the virus.”

Wilhour laments none of it seems to matter with Pritzker, pointing out that he has also fought to keep a ban on high school sports in place through the fall school semester.

“The governor is still doubling down on some of these restrictive measures,” he said. “He just did more restrictions based on positivity rates alone where again he didn’t consider any of these factors.”