Kendall County Times

Kendall County Republican Party Chairman James Marter frets he almost could have predicted Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest act in moving to usher state lawmakers to the front of the line for the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It’s always about politics and whatever’s politically expedient for the governor,” Marter told the Kendall County Times. “Here you have people in desperate need of the vaccine that can’t get it but a couple politicians reach out to him about it and now all of a sudden they’re at the front of the line. It’s always politics first and people second with the Pritzker administration.”

After initially insisting he had no plans of doing so, the governor recently made the move to make all 177 state lawmakers eligible for the shot right away as part of Phase 1B of the state inoculation plan. Pritzker’s special treatment places legislators in the same class as the likes of seniors, teachers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and grocery store workers in terms of pecking order.

“It’s just more of Gov. Pritzker acting as if his word is the only thing that matters in this state and running it like a dictator where nothing anyone else thinks means anything,” said Marter, who intends to run for the Congressional seat occupied by Rep. Adam Kinzinger in 2022. “It’s time legislators stand up to him and do their jobs by holding firm for the people they’re supposed to be representing. That starts with demanding that we get back to Springfield and put some policies in place that make life easier for people in these trying times.”

Neither the Illinois House nor Senate has met for session in Springfield since new members were sworn in roughly four weeks ago. For the rest of the month, the two chambers have only one in-person session scheduled between them.