Bipartisan Vote Blocks Governor's Mask Mandate

A bipartisan vote on Feb. 15 blocked Gov. JB Pritzker’s efforts to ensure his mask mandates continue in most Illinois school districts.

The Illinois Department of Public Health had reissued an emergency rule Feb. 14 for schools not subject to an ongoing lawsuit about mask requirements. The state’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) blocked that rule Feb. 15 by a 9-0-2 vote.

“Democrat members of the JCAR joined with Republican members to block the Pritzker Administration’s order to continue enforcing state mask, vaccine and testing mandates in P-12 schools...