South Central Reporter

Sen. Jason Plummer is not happy with the COVID policies and calls them a ‘corporate blunder.’

Plummer took to Facebook to criticize Gov. Pritzker for the 'tragic results' of the COVID policies that he brought about, as pointed out by the paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

"Worth the read, Illinois' handling of the COVID emergency will go down in history as a complete blunder. The results are tragic and many were avoidable. We failed to protect the most vulnerable among us, harmed our children, crushed the economy, and put politics ahead of common-sense policy. According to this study our performance ranks 46th out of 50 states. This is what happens when you consolidate power and decision making into a handful of people and you remove any semblance of transparency and accountability from government. Hopefully in future emergencies our governors are not autocrats and the General Assembly is not MIA. Thank you for the article, @Wirepoints," said Plummer.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) published a working paper in mid-April in which it ranked Illinois 46th out of 51 states in terms of the effectiveness of the COVID policies. Some of the factors that the ranking took into consideration include in-person schooling rates, industry-adjusted GDP, and unemployment numbers, among several others. On the opposite end was Nebraska, which received an A+ rating in the same category.

Wirepoints seized on this report and noted that Illinois was solidly mid-pack for factors like mortality. "Illinois is just about smack average on mortality. It ranks 24th among the states on COVID deaths per capita, adjusted for age and healthcare differences among states."

The NBER study is simply an updated and expanded version of an October 2020 report card on the effects of pandemic health, economy, and policy varied across the 50 states and the District of Columbia.