Illinois State House District 106 issued the following announcement on July 10.
Limiting the Governor’s emergency powers
Last week a judge ruled that Governor Pritzker does not have the authority to keep issuing stay-at-home orders beyond the 30 days allowed by state law. The Governor is expected to appeal the ruling, so the matter will remain unresolved for a while longer. The dispute is over the wording of a state law which gives the Governor certain emergency powers for 30 days, but then does not say what happens after those 30 days have passed. There has been much confusion and intense disagreement over what limitations exist on the Governor’s authority. Since we do not know what the courts will ultimately decide, or when, I believe we can settle this issue once and for all by clarifying the law.
To ensure that the peoples’ elected representatives have a say in the setting of long-term state policy, I have joined with several other representatives in introducing House Bill 5780. Our bill would change state law to say specifically that the Governor’s emergency powers last for only 30 days in a 12-month period. After that period is up, the Governor would need to get a two-thirds vote of the legislature to extend the emergency. This would bring back some much-needed checks-and-balances to state government in any future emergency like the one we have been dealing with since March. The Governor should have the ability to act quickly in the wake of an emergency, but that power should not be endless.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up