Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announces new mask enforcement rule to limit COVID spread
As a resurgence of coronavirus slams southern Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker took steps Friday to equip local authorities with a tool to enforce mask mandates to prevent the spread of the disease.
The rule does not apply to individual private citizens who don’t comply with a mask mandate. Instead it allows authorities to enforce mask requirements at schools, businesses and child-care facilities, the governor said. Public health officials have identified crowds at bars, restaurants and gatherings as a few of the primary causes of the resurgence in southern Illinois.
For businesses, the proposed guideline represents a softening of the harsher rule lawmakers rejected in May. This one specifies three tiered steps of enforcement for businesses:
- Education: First, businesses will be given a warning in the form of written notice and encouraged to voluntarily comply with public health guidance.
- Warning: Second, businesses that do not voluntarily comply will be ordered to have some or all of their patrons leave the premises as needed to meet public health guidance and reduce risks.
- Fines: Third, if the business continues to refuse to comply, the business can receive a Class A misdemeanor and be subject to a fine ranging from $75-$2,500.
Police, sheriff’s departments, county health departments and state’s attorneys can work together to educate, warn and issue citations. The scaled penalties are less harmful than current punishments in place, such as revoking a business license, Pritzker said.
“These rules are a common sense way to enforce mask requirements without jumping immediately to the extremely tough consequences that exist on the books today,” the governor said. ” ... The existing enforcement options prior to this proposed rule go immediately to license revocation in the blink of an eye. This new rule provides multiple opportunities for compliance before any penalty is issued.”
The administration’s rule will go to the committee that regulates them for consideration as soon as Tuesday. State Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, is a member of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. He expressed skepticism of the rule.
“This needs to be done via legislative action, not through the administrative rulemaking process,” Schimpf said. “This needs to be taken up by the legislature.”
Schimpf was one of the multiple Republicans who called for another special session of lawmakers to address the coronavirus pandemic.
“People will be a lot more willing to believe this is a crisis if the governor acts like it’s a crisis,” Schimpf said.
The governor asked members of the committee to move forward quickly on the rule so local health officials and law enforcement can begin enforcing mask mandates.
“This is a make or break moment for the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
Private citizens in Illinois are still required to wear masks, though the new rule does not apply to them. The governor’s office announced the state’s first mask mandate on May 1.
Masks in schools
The proposed rule would allow county public health officials to enforce the mask mandate for schools holding class in-person, though the rules would differ from the approach for businesses, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office said.
Some school boards throughout the state want to open without masks, which is “against the rules in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
Health officials would work with schools to adjust their plans, Pritzker said. It was not immediately clear Friday morning what penalties noncomplying schools might face.
The rule earned praise from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 200 teachers unions throughout the state.
“We applaud that state authority will have the ability to make sure the right things are happening so that we can get back into school buildings as soon as possible,” said federation president Dan Montgomery.
Montgomery said he was awaiting a copy of the rules to understand exactly how local health departments could enforce mask mandates in schools.
“From our point of view, that’s a positive because I can tell you, I’ve heard from from dozens and dozens, and online hundreds if not thousands of teachers, ‘We’re really frightened,’” Montgomery said. “We feel that at least this is one more tool in the arsenal for some authority to enforce the mask-wearing requirements.”
Protecting workers from COVID-19
Pritzker announced the rule along with a new law that bolsters protections for workers at restaurants, bars and other businesses. Instances of assault have been reported throughout the country at businesses asking patrons to wear masks.
“In many ways, these workers are now serving at the forefront of public health mitigation efforts in encouraging social distancing and the use of face coverings,” Pritzker said.
The law increases penalties for anyone who assaults a worker enforcing public health guidance. It also extends paid disability leave by 60 days for firefighters, law enforcement and paramedics whose recovery was hindered by COVID-19.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said the proposed rule would help keep restaurants, bars and other businesses open.
“If you choose not to adhere to safety guidelines or house rules at businesses, your favorite restaurants, shops, bars, salons, hardware stores and more will be the price,” Toia said. “Help us so we can serve you. The stakes are too high, as it would be catastrophic to shut down our economy once again.”
The metro-east region reported a total of 191 new positive tests on Thursday, the highest number since the pandemic began. The region also counted three deaths.
Pritzker has repeatedly called on local elected officials to stem the resurgence, but they’ve hesitated to crack down on bars, restaurants and large gatherings where the disease has spread most rapidly in recent weeks.
The governor has said the state will force restrictions on any region that exceeds an 8% positivity rate, or the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive, for three consecutive days. The metro-east region has flirted with that number in recent weeks, though the percentage dropped slightly this week.
Restrictions could include reduced hours and capacity limits for restaurants, bars and personal care facilities such as salons and barbershops.
The state’s public health agency defines the metro-east region as St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, Clinton, Bond and Washington counties.
Illinois public health officials announced 2,084 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois on Friday, including 21 additional deaths, bringing the total to 190,508 cases and 7,613 deaths deaths since the pandemic began.
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 9:10 AM.
