Chambana Sun

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Champaign)  took to Facebook to needle Gov. J.B. Pritzker over his recent decision to lift statewide mask mandates.

“Let me get this straight JB ... 94% of locally elected school districts had already walked away from you,” Rose posted on Facebook. “You lost in the Illinois Supreme Court, and now you're going to lift the mask mandate? What's left to lift, Gov, you were thrown out of the Supreme Court. Start listening to local schools & parents.”

The state’s high court declined to hear the governor’s appeal of a temporary restraining order issued  against his school mask mandate by a Sangamon County Circuit judge who declared it “null and void” in a decision that prompted a majority of state school districts to enact mask-optional policies.

In the aftermath, Pritzker, whose statewide mask mandate was officially lifted on Feb. 28, took a different view in assessing Judge Raylene Grischow’s ruling in a press release.

“I’m gratified that the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s restraining order, meaning that if a school mask mandate needs to go into effect in the future, we continue to have that authority,” he said in a press release. “I’m also extremely pleased to say that because the CDC has recommended that masks are needed only in areas of high transmission, the State of Illinois will move forward to remove our school mask mandate. We will recommend that school districts follow CDC guidance and will update our existing guidance in the coming days.”

Attorney Tom DeVore, who had filed suit on behalf of hundreds of parents pushing to end masking, agrees with Rose’s assessment about the governor’s actions.  

“He says ‘oh I’m going to lift them on Monday because of the science but we can do this in the future if we feel we need to,'” DeVore said. “That’s not what the court said.”

Even as the Illinois Association of School Administrators reports 94% of school districts are already mask-optional, the governor’s lift on masks doesn’t apply to the Chicago Public School system and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez sent a letter to parents on Feb. 27 that said the district will continue to require universal masking. 

In February, the Chambana Sun reported that Rose said Pritzker’s refusal to lift mask mandates for schools prove he is "moving to punish all those who defy him."

"He is saying that kids in school are different than adults at the workplace,” Rose said. “How dare a parent make a decision in their own child’s best interest - not J.B. Pritzker’s political interests. But, boy, is he ever going to show them how smart he is – moving to punish all those who defy him. Everyday more and more school districts, parents, and children are walking away from him in outright revolt."

Rose said Pritzker claims he is "following the science" when his loyalty lies with following the lead being set by other Democratic governors.

“It is now abundantly clear that JB Pritzker’s ‘scientists’ are actually the Governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and California," he said. "What a joke."

As part of her decision, Grischow said, “statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain."