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Another Republican Lawmaker Files Lawsuit Against Gov. JB Pritzker's Extended Stay-At-Home Order

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A second Illinois state lawmaker has filed a challenge to Gov. JB Pritzker's extension of the stay-at-home order, and unlike another Republican's lawsuit against the governor, this one seeks to lift the order for everyone in the state.

The governor's current stay-at-home order is set to expire at the end of the day on Thursday, but he has said he will issue another 30-day order beginning Friday.

Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) filed a lawsuit in Winnebago County on Wednesday, seeking an injunction prohibiting the governor from enforcing the new stay-at-home order.

However, the first hearing in that case has not been scheduled until Tuesday, meaning the governor's order will at the very least stand until then, with the exception of Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), who won a court order earlier this week exempting him from the stay-at-home mandate.

On Monday, a Clay County Circuit Court judge granted Bailey a temporary restraining order, barring the governor from enforcing the stay-at-home order on the lawmaker, meaning Bailey won't have to comply with the extension once it begins on Friday.

The governor has called Bailey's lawsuit "a cheap political stunt," and has said his office is appealing the ruling in Clay County. The Illinois Attorney General's office has filed an appeal with the Fifth District Illinois Appellate Court, and Pritzker said they also plan to soon file a request to take the case directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Unlike Bailey's lawsuit, Cabello said he will seek a court order to exempt everyone in Illinois from the extended stay-at-home order. The same attorney who handled Bailey's lawsuit is representing Cabello.

Pritzker has said the challenges to his stay-at-home order put millions of people at risk.

"We are defeating this virus by virtue of having a stay-at-home order," Pritzker said Tuesday. "There would have been thousands more deaths in the state, and there will be thousands more deaths if this executive order is not allowed to proceed on May 1 through May 30th. All I can say is it is the height of recklessness that that attorney and his client have gone ahead and challenged the idea that we're in the middle of an emergency."

Both lawsuits argue the governor exceeded his authority by extending his stay-at-home order beyond 30 days. However, the governor has argued state law allows for extensions of disaster proclamations.

"We are operating on decades of precedent, in terms of how disaster proclamations work – from floods to tornadoes and now a global pandemic," Pritzker said earlier this week. "Disasters don't necessarily evaporate on a 30-day time frame. The legislature took that into account when they wrote this law. In collaboration with the Attorney General's office, my team and I will fight this legal battle to the furthest extent possible to ensure the public health and common sense, and that those prevail."

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