Sangamon Sun

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake) isn't satisfied with the way Gov. J.B. Pritzker is operating the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

The Shelbyville Daily Union reported Skillicorn believes the department is lacking the staff needed to handle the amount of unemployment claims it is receiving.

“This is a nonpartisan issue. This is about the people of Illinois,” Skillicorn said in a news release. “This is not my voice, it’s the voice of over 1 million people in Illinois that are now unemployed. ... It’s not about me. It’s not about my party.”

Skillicorn said he has been hearing concerns from Illinois residents on a daily basis, but told Pritzker he would cease his efforts once IDES is better secured and has enough staff to handle the volume of claims. 

Pritzker said it wouldn't be that easy to fix the issues in the department and called in Deloitte, a third-party consulting firm, to upgrade the system. 

“In typical Chicago Democrat fashion, the governor decided the best way to fix the website was to hand out a lavish no-bid contract,” Skillicorn said. “Now secure data has been unleashed into the public domain. It is an epic failure.”

Deloitte did work with the department and was able to increase the number of call center agents, the Daily Union reported. But it wasn't enough for Skillicorn, who has begun the process to gain lawmaker support to recall the governor. 

To recall the governor, 30 legislators comprised of 20 state representatives and 10 state senators divided among each party and at least 15% of the voters (636,825 residents) must be in support of the move. Skillicorn will have 150 days to complete the petition. 

He told Daily Union that he has most of the needed representatives and “fully (plans) to be able to get the full 30 we need.”