GOP lawmaker says Pritzker should stop national 'macho man' act, focus on state issues

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The governors of Illinois and Colorado have created a national organization focused on pushing back against Donald Trump's administration. Illinois Republican leaders want Gov. JB Pritzker to stop attacking the incoming president and focus on statewide issues.

Pritzker made national headlines last week by warning Republicans that they will need to go through him if their policies target freedom and opportunity of Illinoisans.

"Remember, this is the same governor who came to the House floor, pointed at Republicans and called them all carnival barkers and doom grifters," Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) said Wednesday. "Now, here he is offering some sort of gubernatorial macho man moment saying that Donald Trump needs to come through him in order to deliver help to the people of the state of Illinois. Governor, let me be clear. That's the wrong message."

The House Deputy Minority Leader said Democrats and Republicans should be thinking about how they can work together to improve the state and build upon economic growth for the country.

The Governors Safeguarding Democracy group hopes to prevent the Trump administration from rolling back reproductive healthcare rights, immigration policy and environmental regulations among others. Pritzker told reporters at an unrelated event that he doesn't know what Trump will do in office because the former president has frequently changed his mind on major issues.

"What we need to make sure is that we have the governors talking to one another and our staffs and outsiders providing us with ideas about how to address some of these very challenging issues," Pritzker said.

The Democrat said he is not telling 76 million voters that they made the wrong choice. However, Pritzker believes every governor should be prepared for anything coming out of Washington D.C.

"It's clear that his administration is going to have the ability to make changes and proposals, so we are just here as the state of Illinois having to deal with whatever those changes may be."

Still, Spain argued the majority of voters want to see change from the status quo in Congress and Illinois.

"Our immigration policies in the state of Illinois have been a mess," Spain said. "They've led to out of control spending that have placed priorities in the wrong place in terms of healthcare spending and asylum assistance. We need to fix that, and that's something the federal government will be working on very intently."

State lawmakers will return to Springfield for three days next week to wrap up their veto session. It's unknown if Democrats will pass any plans addressing the incoming Trump administration then or wait until lameduck session in early January.