Rock Island Today

State Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) is blasting Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to end general mask mandates while keeping those for school children in place.

“The governor’s plan makes no sense,” McCombie posted on Facebook. “We believe he should drop these mandates across the board, including in our schools. The Governor should also abandon his appeal of last week’s court ruling involving masks in schools.”

Long a critic of the governor’s handling of the pandemic, McCombie attached a picture of a letter in which she urged the governor to follow his own advice in dealing with the crisis.

“As you so often say, you follow the science in your decision-making,” the letter reads. “How can this be when it comes to seeking to reassert your go-it-alone mask mandate in our schools? The science categorically questions your position. What the research does show unequivocally is that children are facing severe learning deficits because of COVID-19 mitigations, specifically mask wearing. Young children and students with special needs are struggling to learn basic human interaction and empathy skills as a result of mask wearing. The growing mental health crisis has been staggeringly high for our students.”

In a decision supported by McCombie, earlier this month Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow issued a temporary restraining order against Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and multiple school districts essentially ending mask mandates and rules regarding vaccination and testing for teachers.

In a 29-page order, Grischow further asserted school districts cannot be ordered to require masks for students and teachers barring a quarantine order having been rendered by a local health department.

The state's Attorney General's Office has filed an appeal with the Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court.

Back in in January, McCombie opposed a Democratic lawmaker's plan that would open the door to the creation of a mandatory state vaccine registry.

"CALL TO ACTION! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” McCombie posted on Facebook. “Please contact Rep. Morgan with your thoughts on HB4244 and please file your opposition with 10,938 other Illinoisans."

Introduced by Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highwood) in late 2021, House Bill 4244 "would require all doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and medical centers to register their patients' personal immunizations with a state-run database," McCombie said in her post.