Pritzker Declares 15-County Disaster Following Storms, Tornadoes

By Sean Reed | The Center Square, The Center Square

Days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker said an immediate declaration wasn’t urgent, he signed a disaster declaration spanning 15 different counties for storms between mid-May and Sunday.

The declaration primarily focuses on strong storms that hit different parts of the state in recent weeks

In the announcement, the governor’s office said the declaration directs state agencies like the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help impacted communities.

Pritzker said a declaration would “kick off” federal disaster aid requests by the state from the likes of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration.

“If we don't receive – and we have received in some cases – support from the SBA, for example, for loans for families for businesses. We've also in some cases received disaster assistance,” Pritzker said. “But again, the state government doesn't have the resources to fill in all the holes that the federal government has now made for states across the country.”

The last two requests submitted to FEMA in the last year by Illinois have been denied, though the SBA more often offers support through loans to businesses and impacted households for costs incurred due to disasters.

As part of the state’s declaration, DCEO is accepting applications for grants up to $250,000 to local governments to assist with unexpected costs incurred by municipalities within the declared area.

Concerns have been raised by officials in Democrat-led states regarding President Donald Trump’s administration and its handling of disaster declarations being more favorable to Republican-led states.

On Saturday, Trump rapidly acted on Indiana’s declaration for major storms that led to significant damage in both states, but caused historic flooding in Indiana.

While Indiana Gov. Mike Braun declared a statewide disaster for the flooding, the state hadn’t officially made a request for a major disaster declaration by the president. A group of state lawmakers did send a letter to the president requesting assistance, however.

Officials in Indiana are still assessing flood and storm damage.

Analysis by the Associated Press has revealed that under Trump’s second term, FEMA has approved requests for aid in 80 percent of cases where a Republican governor sought aid, versus just 59 percent of requests by Democrats.

“What I don't want to do is interfere with, for example, our assessment of the damage so that we can put all that together, package it and tell the federal government what it is that we need, hoping that we will get a positive response,” Pritzker said. “Occasionally we have, occasionally we are not receiving it. It seems like the whims of the federal government are at play.”

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