Rock Island Today

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is casting doubts on his own legal authority to issue emergency COVID-19 orders and guidelines, a citizen’s watchdog group says.

The governor and two other state officials have sued one public school system and two private schools for failing to comply with state safety guidelines for reopening, including requiring everyone over the age of 2 to wear masks if medically possible. The schools, all represented by the same attorney, have sent letters to the governor challenging the guidelines as unlawful because it exceeds the governor’s authority.

“The state seeks a judicial declaration confirming the legality of the governor’s executive orders and the guidance,” the state’s suit against the schools said. It also seeks injunctive relief in the form of a court order requiring the schools to comply with the governor’s executive orders and guidelines for reopening.

The nonprofit citizens group, Edgar County Watchdogs, said that by asking the court for a declaratory judgment, Pritzker is expressing doubt about the legality of his executive orders on COVID-19.

“If he truly believed he has the power he is exercising, he could have simply filed for injunctive relief,” the group said.

The state’s pleadings in the suit against the schools don’t “point to any case-law to support their position and failed to point out former Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued a legal opinion on the limits of Executive Orders pointing to them only applying to state agencies,” the citizens group said.

A Clay County court ruled that the governor’s powers during a pandemic are limited to 30 days, the watchdog group said. “However, our governor issued executive order after executive order well beyond the authorized 30-day time frame,” it said.

In their letter to the governor, the schools stated “they alone will determine what, if any, additional health and safety protocols they might choose to add to their current guidelines for the upcoming year,” the state's suit said.