Peoria Standard

Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) urged Governor J.B. Pritzker to collaborate with the Illinois General Assembly to create a better plan to reopen the state.

Spain said the governor's plan doesn’t work in Peoria because the community has been using its own initiatives.

"It’s not because I disagree with the plan, but the plan itself is not workable for the type of efforts we’ve been undergoing as a community," Spain said.

Spain said the healthcare data isn’t reflected in the zones in Pritzker's plan.

"These arbitrary designations create problems for communities trying to move forward and give further incentive for communities to just go it alone," Spain said at the press conference. "That’s the first problem."

Spain said regional plans need to be developed using the very best scientific data and metrics.

"I agree with the governor’s metrics, but the problem is that we need to allow regions to move forward based on conditions in data sets," Spain said. "In Peoria, we’re already meeting data—we’re under 20 percent, we’re actually well under 10 percent."

Spain said hospital admissions in Peoria remain stable.

"While we’re meeting all these data markers, we’ve been meeting them for four weeks," Spain said. "That leads me to my third problem: the timelines. May 1 wasn’t a special day and shouldn’t be the day of set measurements."

Spain said Illinoisans need to have data drive how the state is safely reopened.

He said in Peoria, the plan they’ve been developing includes different occupancy capacities.

"That’s something that makes a lot of sense for our region and one of the things suggested to the governor," Spain said. "This is why we need to work collaboratively. If you wish to go quickly go alone but if you wish to go far work together."

Spain said he wants the legislature to work together with the governor to find the best way to reopen Illinois safely.