(WSIL) -- The governor's plan to lift the state's universal mask mandate raised eyebrows among his critics.
Sen. Terri Bryant (R-IL 58th Dist.) accused Gov. JB Pritzker of trying to save face in an election year by following suit with what other states are doing.
As of Wednesday, Illinois was one of seven states that still required mask mandates. New York ended its universal mask mandate Wednesday but still requires them in schools for a couple of more weeks.
Five of those seven states are expected to relax mask mandates by the end of Fberuary.
"It's kind of ridiculous to imagine that (masking) has gone on for this long," Bryant said.
Bryant also accused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of tailoring its guidelines to mirror the Biden Administration's recommendations. She also called Pritzker's mask mandate plan 'the height of hypocrisy'.
"Why would you make a kid in a school on a playground wear a mask and then they're not having to wear it when they go to Walmart?" Bryant said. "They shouldn't have to be wearing them at all."
Bryant says Illinois has fallen behind other states that have relaxed mask mitigations and her constituents are tired after two years of wearing them.
"A whole lot of the folks in southern Illinois have not been listening to him for a long time," Bryant said.