Macon Reporter

As tensions about the stay-at-home order Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has now extended through the end of month as a way of slowing the COVID-19 pandemic mount, veteran state Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) can see the handwriting on the wall.

“The goalpost keeps moving in terms of what it will take for Gov. Pritzker to reopen our state and before long I think you’re going to see some level of civil disobedience because of it,” Halbrook told the Macon Reporter. "The lack of transparency we're seeing is really stunning."

Hundreds of demonstrators recently took to the streets for demonstrations outside state government buildings in Springfield and downtown Chicago, demanding that the governor put an end to the decree that has forced small businesses across the state to bolt to their doors after the government deemed them nonessential.

Halbrook said he was at the rally in Springfield and could completely relate to what most of the protesters were feeling.

“Part of the problem is that the governor continues to act as if central and southern Illinois don’t matter,” he said. “He doesn’t seem to have any understanding at all about rural Illinois. I don’t begrudge people born into wealth, but when you have the kind he has you’re not going to connect with the everyday person. He just doesn’t have any idea about rural Illinois.”

As for the protest demonstrations, Halbrook said he suspects there will be more of them and they will only increase in intensity.

“Rather or not people continue to go along with the restrictions will vary from person to person,” Halbrook said. “But as I’ve said before, I think the governor needs to make a trip here to central Illinois and get a real feel for how life is down here.”