Posted on 05/21/2020 1:19:09 PM PDT by SJackson
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says health experts are comfortable with patio dining
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday that the state will now allow dine-in restaurants to serve customers on back patios as early as May 29. This represents a victory for the Illinois Restaurant Association, which has been lobbying Pritzker to allow restaurants to reopen earlier than the previously announced June 26 target date set by the government (dine-in restaurants have been closed in Illinois since March 17). Pritzker said any open patio seating will have to be away from sidewalks. Rooftop patios may also benefit.
These dates are subject to health benchmarks which the Illinois Department of Public Health is tracking online. Currently, the entire state, including Chicago, is on track to hit those targets, Pritzker said. The governor, speaking from Springfield, said that summer offers restaurant owners an opportunity. Health experts feel outdoor dining is safer and have given the state the okay to expand its plan to “bring back more activities faster as long as Illinoisans have been doing what we have been doing.”
“The governor’s announcement provides a glimmer of light at the end of this very dark tunnel,” Illinois Restaurant Association CEO and President Sam Toia said.
Toia said the government and association continue to work on the rules for outdoor dining, including specific guidance on face masks. The governor mentioned spacing tables out six feet apart and ensuring tables are away from sidewalks. There was no announcement about bars, as Toia said bar licensing is different compared to restaurants. He added that the association is pushing plans to reopen bars safely.
Pritzker faced pressures as many restaurants and bars reopened this month in neighboring Indiana and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, local elected officials can still keep businesses closed (like in Milwaukee where dine-in restaurants aren’t open). Wisconsin officials can also chose to allow bars and restaurants to operate without social distancing guidelines, like what’s happened in West Allis, Wisconsin. Restaurants and bars in other parts of country have reopened with restrictions such as reducing capacities and mandating staff and customers to wear masks. Mandates, of course, don’t always mean diners will follow: In New York, for example, some crowds have ignored social distancing.
Pritzker and Toia pointed to local officials like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, urging them to come up with more creative ways to help restaurants: Imagine streets closed down to create European-style plazas, or the use of parking lots for tables to promote safer dining habits, strategies other cities across the country have implemented.
Toia foreshadowed a restaurant announcement by standing behind Pritzker during Wednesday’s briefing. Members of the association have been negotiating with Pritzker’s staff this week after originally being miffed that they were left out of initial conversations with state health officials. For all involved, it’s been a difficult balance in weighing public health concerns with the desire for business owners to make money.
Oh yeah, I’m sure all the billionaires and big-shot politicians in Chicago having been doing without restaurant food for the last two months. But then I’ll believe anything, because I’m incredibly stupid.
Not so fast: Chicago restaurants won’t be ready to reopen for outdoor dining on May 29, mayor says
Is the correct spelling of the Democrat Party cesspool of a city ‘Chicongo‘ or ‘Chiraq’?
My guess lots of the ultra rich, like the Governor’s family, weren’t hunkered down in Illinois. I’ve heard anecdotally the wealthier areas of Manhattan suffered a substantial drop in population. Why not opt for the country, or Florida when laws don’t apply to you.
None of this has any force of law in Illinois. Governor Creosote lost big at the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules yesterday. The Illinois Dept of Public Health declined to have anything to do with his stupid illegal orders.
L
Doesn’t stop clowns like Lightfoot from ordering them enforced. My impression the law enforcement community has been less that thrilled. An important official like Lightfoot or Pritzger need personal police forces to get things done.
“My impression the law enforcement community has been less that thrilled.”
Every Sheriff in the State save one has already told him to go pee up a rope. The Board of our fair Village is meeting tonight to tell him to do the same.
L
That will work with all the lovely weather here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.