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Illinois Restaurant Association challenges Pritzker's emergency power with lawsuit

The group alleges that the governor's emergency orders closing their businesses don't hold power anymore.

The Illinois Restaurant Association has brought a lawsuit against the Pritzker administration claiming that his emergency power to close their businesses haven't held real effect for months.

The lawsuit, brought by 37 restaurants and bars in the McHenry County suburbs, alleges that Governor J.B. Pritzker's orders to close their businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic no longer hold any weight, saying that the emergency power expired 30 days after the initial disaster declaration.

During the press conference announcing the suit, members of the association issued pleas for financial help and the ability to resume normal operations.

"At a time we need Governor Pritzker to listen the most, please give our industry a fighting chance to get through this winter and to survive so that we have a future, not only for ourselves, but for our friends and family," says Jodi Fyfe, founder of the Chicago-based event company The Paramount Group.  "And guess what; you all want to come out to dinner, you all want to have that, well, if we don't do something now, there won't be a place for you all to come to."

City officials in several of the involved locations, including Aurora, Libertyville, Morton Grove, and Orland Park have gone on record saying that they will not help the state enforce the governor's ban.

The lawsuit's first hearing is scheduled for Friday, November 7.

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