With his announced changes to the state’s COVID-19 mitigation plan on Aug. 4, Gov. Pritzker continues his unilateral approach to pandemic decision-making, which actively undermines Illinois’ ability to have broadly accepted mitigation strategies.

Senator Syverson says it’s coming up on 17 months that Gov. Pritzker has been running the state with little to no input by lawmakers or local officials. The Governor encourages the public to be “all in Illinois,” but he refuses to be “all in” with state and local elected officials who better understand their geographic areas and their communities’ needs.

The Governor should abandon his singular approach and bring others to the governing table to ensure that mitigation efforts will be broadly accepted by the populace and effectively implemented. By continuing to exclude other state and local leaders, Pritzker is failing the people of Illinois who would benefit from statewide coordination, input and buy-in from the public.