Rep. Keith Wheeler, District 50
Yesterday, I emailed Illinois Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego), who sits on the Illinois General Assembly Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), with a request to meet me and two other citizens who also want to understand his perspective on the legality of Governor Pritzker’s so-called “school mask mandate.” (I wrote about some reasons I believe the order isn’t lawful earlier this week.)
No response yet, but I’m posting the questions we asked in the email, with the hope that other taxpayers can get real answers from their Legislators, school board members, superintendents, or district/school lawyers. Click here for the Order.
Questions:
1) In what ways, exactly, do the “Illinois Constitution,” “the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, 20 ILCS 3305, Sections 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 7)8), 7(12), and 19,” give the Governor the authority to tell Illinois public and private schools that they “must follow” the IDPH/ISBE joint guidance document? Do you believe Illinois schools are experiencing an “emergency” and/or are in a “disaster area”?
2) Which “powers in public health laws” (also cited in the order) is the Governor referring to, and how do those powers relate to the authority he is asserting?
3) Given the authority the ILGA/Illinois School Code gives to public schools via 105 ILCS 5/10-22.25b to decide what students must or can’t wear to school, whence the Governor's authority to tell school boards what their students must wear? Given that the state has never asserted authority over what private school students wear (i.e., 105 ILCS 5/10-22.25b applies only to public schools) what gives the State the authority to do so now?
4) Why hasn’t ISBE or the Governor recognized that, consistent with the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, 105 ILCS 5/10-22.25b clearly allows parents to make religious objections to the dress code requirement of a face covering/mask? (Note, IDPH has admitted, “The free exercise of religion is exempted from the face covering requirement.” )
5) Do you believe ISBE has a basis to follow a process and revoke recognition status of a school that has a mask-optional policy? It seems this would require proving that a mask-optional policy “presents a health hazard or a danger to students or staff”. Do you believe mask-optional policies can be asserted or proven to present a such a hazard? On what basis?