Kendall County Times

With all the upheaval brought on by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, veteran Illinois state Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) stresses there can be only one priority.

“First and foremost, we have to be focused on saving people's lives during this crisis and any course of action we take must come from a place of putting people first,” Oberweis told the DuPage Policy Journal.

But Oberweis, now running against U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville) in the 14th Congressional District after emerging from a crowded Republican primary field with nearly 26% of the vote, recognizes that it all makes for a delicate balance.

“Having said that, we do need to be mindful of what is happening to businesses across the state,” he added. “Through no fault of their own, businesses have been shut down and real people are hurting and wondering how they are going to pay their mortgage and other bills.”

Oberweis said he stands in agreement with the essence of the position taken by a number of Republican lawmakers who recently fired off a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker calling on him to “kick start” the state’s economic comeback by freezing unemployment insurance rates and the state’s minimum wage for at least the next year.

“I think it is reasonable to provide some short-term concessions to give businesses some time to recover,” Oberweis said. “Small businesses are an essential part of our economy, and we need these businesses to come back in a big way.

Oberweis added that he makes it a point to remind residents the more follow all the state’s newly instituted guidelines the sooner life may be able to return to normal.

“We do know that this situation will not be permanent,” he said. “We know that at some point businesses will come back.”