South Central Reporter

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) fumes that Illinois lawmakers not meeting in Springfield this month for a planned Veto Session essentially amounts to a dereliction of duty.

“The legislature is completely abandoning its duties when it comes to this coronavirus pandemic,” Wilhour told the South Central Reporter. “The truth is we have three branches of government and right now the executive branch is making all the decisions. It’s not appropriate and the legislature needs to weigh in and be a part of the process.”

That scenario may not be coming anytime soon after Illinois' legislative leaders recently moved to cancel the fall Veto Session slated to be held this month over COVID-19 concerns. In an email to lawmakers, a close associate of House Speaker Mike Madigan insisted a “strong majority” of House Democrats supported the move in light of the circumstances.

Wilhour sizes all that just more Democrat talking points.

“It’s all Madigan’s decision; all he has to do is call us back to Springfield,” he said. “To this point, the legislature hasn’t been able to weigh in it all when it comes to all the things (Gov. J.B. Pritzker) is doing. The governor knows his decisions haven’t been popular ones, and anytime a politician can avoid facing anything difficult that’s what happens.”

In the meantime, Wilhour laments the people of the state continue to suffer.

“Illinois had serious fiscal problems even before the pandemic hit and now we’re just compounding things by sitting on the sidelines doing nothing and just saying it’s too unsafe for the legislature," he said. "We’re servants of the people; we’re supposed to go back.”

The new session was slated to commence on Nov. 17 for the first day of a scheduled six-day session. The next General Assembly is due to be inaugurated Jan. 13.