This week, political and public health leaders in Central Illinois released details on the proposed
Heart of Illinois Reopening Plan
. The McLean County Chamber of Commerce agrees with the proposal and we feel the plan does an outstanding job of balancing our critical public health needs with the need of reopening our economy. The foundation on solid health progress and community capacity exceeds the Governor’s Restore Illinois plan and allows a clear path forward for a return to normalcy.
The Chamber and CEO2 Council have been quietly advocating for a more regional approach to battling this crisis. On April 30 we joined with the chambers of commerce in Peoria and Champaign counties in a letter, to Governor Pritzker rejecting his then one-size-fits-all plan for Illinois. A copy of that letter can be
found here
. The letter showed that based on positive cases and total population the prevalence of COVID-19 in Cook County was 14 times higher than our five counties (0.668% of the population vs. 0.047%). We chose to send this letter privately to the governor in hopes of opening a line of dialog but never received a response.
Four days later he unveiled Restore Illinois. While we were heartened that this plan provides a more regional approach and a clearer guide to how reopening might progress, we feel it still ignores local realities. While McLean County looks nothing like Chicago, it also does not have much in common with Rockford or the Quad Cities. Restore Illinois metrics are based largely on hospital capacity, but there is no real relationship between hospitals in the newly christened “North Central” region.
In contrast, the Heart of Illinois Reopening Plan largely follows the direction and approach of the Restore Illinois plan, but is based on a region that truly works as one. This sub-region was selected based upon commuting data for the communities and historic medical response and hospital coordination. This area is blessed with a high level of medical services that have sufficient surge capacity to address any spike in cases. The 11 counties represent a manageable area that will ensure proper controls and monitoring will be implemented. Most importantly, while Restore Illinois announced a regionally, phased approach would be utilized in Illinois, it did not address in detail how specifically each region would open and address the real-world situation at that time and place. The Heart of Illinois Reopening Plan picks up where Restore Illinois left off and helps to fill in those gaps, as to our region. With careful and scientific consideration of the real data accrued as to our region, the plan gives clear guidance to both the public and the business community regarding its objectives, their requirements and how we can together move forward.
We all recognize the seriousness of the danger posed by COVID-19 and wish to work together towards solutions that help us restore both our health and our economy. We further recognize the long term, negative public health outcomes that stem from a crippled economy. It is time for some balance to be restored, and we feel this plan is the right step for our region to take. We urge Governor Pritzker to respond and adopt this plan and would ask our members and others in the business community to similarly urge the governor and our local elected officials. All of us in the community should be working together to safely and thoughtfully move towards economic re-opening and recovery while protecting public health and safety. That is what the Heart of Illinois Plan does, if implemented.
Our message to the Governor is first and foremost, please know that Central Illinois business owners and employees care deeply and are in this together for the good of our communities and for Illinois. We want to help “restore Illinois” and we strongly believe the Heart of Illinois Reopening Plan does just that. We sincerely hope that the Governor will 1) acknowledge and recognize that this is a science-driven, thoughtful plan that deserves a fair and objective reading and consideration. And then, just say “yes” and allow Central Illinois to help Restore Illinois.
