Rock Island Today

State Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Rock Island) says Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 restrictions are cheating high school athletes out of opportunities.

“The continued, strict regulations that are preventing our high school students from participating in athletics have gone on for far too long,” Anderson said in a statement. “While states all across the nation, and every bordering state of Illinois, have been able to successfully allow for sports in a safe and responsible manner, Gov. Pritzker’s Administration has done very little to give Illinois students those same opportunities.” 

Anderson said enough is enough. 

“Our children have been cheated out of opportunities, while those just miles away across the border continue to grow, achieve and strive,” Anderson said in the statement. “Enough is enough. It’s long past time to implement the proper regulations that allow for student-athletes to compete.”

While Illinois has been in Tier 3 lockdown since November, Pritzker’s own daughter, 19-year-old Teddi Pritzker, has been spotted in the family’s Florida home working out mask-less at gyms, at restaurants with friends, and attending equestrian events.

Teddi Pritzker posted a photo on Instagram of her lifting weights in an exercise class while not wearing a mask. Another person in the photo was also seen not wearing a mask while working out. While Florida doesn’t have a mask mandate, J.B. Pritzker just extended Illinois’ mask mandate until June 3.

Prairie State Wire previously reported that Teddi Pritzker openly flouted her father’s lockdown protocols last year, attending equestrian events across Illinois.

Gov. Pritzker canceled the football season this past fall and likely will not allow spring sports, the news media reported, but he is agreeable to funding his daughter’s horse shows and her lifestyle. Currently, 61 percent of retail businesses in Illinois have been shuttered due to Pritzker’s COVID-19 restrictions.