First Report Issued by Commission to “Restore Illinois”

On Thursday, the first report from the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission resurface. The resurfacing comes a day after it was supposed to be shared with state lawmakers, and without any kind of meeting of the commission. Last month, Governor signed the state law creating the Restore Illinois Collaborative Commission.

The law required the commission to create an initial report on how to revive the state’s economy to be issued July 1. Legislative leaders appointed all the members with majority Democrats a couple of weeks ago. However, the 14-member commission is yet to hold a meeting. One lawmaker said the commission had received the report just after 5 p.m. from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity via email.

Several commission members said the report was nowhere to be found. Several requests were made for the status of the report as the deadline reached Wednesday. A DCEO spokesperson who was traveling Wednesday shared the report with The Center Square on Thursday morning. DCEO spokesperson Lauren Huffman said in a statement Thursday said, “The report submitted acknowledges where Illinois is today, having just entered Phase 4 of the plan, with considerable progress made toward slowing the spread of COVID-19 and reopening businesses since May 5^th.”

He added, “This report outlines our state’s successful efforts of getting Illinoisans back to work, helping businesses and communities get the assistance they need and starting the process of rebuilding our economy.” Commission member state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford said he wanted the commission to look into a few matters before issuing the report.

Commission member state Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, said before the report was issued he wanted to lift the governor’s cap on gatherings of 50 or more. The 50-person limit is part of the Governor’s Phase 4. The hotel and convention industry wanted to change the limit set. “This cap of 50 is a big concern,” Crespo said. “So I think we need to have a good conversation on that.”