NW Illinois News

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has issued a new vaccine mandate, but several new legal challenges against it are pending. 

On Jan. 7, the Pritzker Administration filed a new rule,  but whether it takes force will depend on the Supreme Court.

"Bad News," Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Sterling) said in a post to her Facebook account on Jan. 10. "The Pritzker administration quietly filed the new rule change hours after the U.S. Supreme Court questioned the federal government’s legal authority to enforce a mandate over private employers that don’t receive federal funding. If the nation’s high court eventually upholds the federal vaccine and testing mandate, Illinois employers would have until January 24th to develop a workplace policy, and until February 24th to start enforcing the rules."

Meanwhile, the Pritzker Administration is optimistic that any planning needed after a new court decision can be handled adequately. 

“If the court reversed the federal mandate, then our rule will also be rescinded,” Pritzker Administration spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said. “We just have to match the feds with whatever happens and filing the rule gives people time to plan if it’s upheld.”

According to WCIA, if the nation’s high court eventually upholds the federal vaccine and testing mandate, Illinois employers would have until Jan. 24 to create a new workplace policy that was in compliance, and until Feb. 24 to start following the new law. The new change in policy only appears to apply to businesses with 100 or more employees. The mandate was blocked on Nov. 6, but the block was subsequently lifted last December.

A panel of three judges on the 6th Circuit found the injuries claimed by the petitioners to be "entirely speculative" and the costs of delaying the enforcement of the new law to be comparatively high. These new rules were put into force by the Illinois Department of Labor, according to a report from WCIA. Any new rulings are not anticipated to apply to remote workers.