PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Illinois lawmakers will descend upon the Capitol Wednesday, preparing for a tightly scheduled 72 hours.

Two Central Illinois senators say this is a time to work for the people of the state.

“It doesn’t do us any good a weakened Illinois and then to think our communities can do well,” said State Sen. Dave Koehler, (D-Peoria). “We need to have a strong state government as we possibly can given the situation and then we need to reach down and help our local communities.”

“Probably the most significant question in our state history, the public policy question of, ‘how do we react to the COVID-19 pandemic?’ How do we reopen our state? What’s the plan and process and timeline for doing so?’” said State Sen. Jason Barickman, (R-Bloomington).

The senators said dealing with the economic crisis and the health crisis is a top priority, while also extending sunset dates for current bills. Central Illinois’ “Heart Of Illinois” phased re-opening plan is also on the agenda.

“The public, by-in-large, does not buy into the plan that Governor Pritzker has put forth and so they’re reacting,” said Barickman. “They’re getting units of government, city councils and county boards, they’re convincing them to act because they see the failure which is Gov. Pritzker’s plan.”

“On one hand, I’m going to praise the governor where he deserves it because he’s given us good leadership,” said Koehler. “On the other hand, I’m going to challenge him and say you need to think about this and that’s my responsibility as a legislator from this area. I work for the people that elected me, not for the governor.”

Speaker Mike Madigan also said Tuesday, he’s “looking forward to providing relief to people struggling around the state and not on needless distractions.”

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