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State Rep. Jed Davis, R-Newark, said he became aware of the
requirement after hearing about a 16-year-old in his district
who was denied a driver’s license because she refused to wear a
mask or shield during her driver’s test.
Davis said he called the Secretary of State’s Office and
confirmed this policy does exist. However, when requesting the
written policy, he was told it was unavailable because it’s an
internal policy.
"Why is the Secretary of State’s Office implementing their own
health criteria, when they are not even a health agency?" Davis
told The Center Square. "You can’t even make up this stuff that
happens in this state, it is just pure insanity."
Davis, a member of the Illinois Freedom Caucus, said they have
sent a letter to the head of the agency, Alexi Giannoulias,
asking him to remove the mask requirement at driver facilities
throughout the state.
"Requiring drivers to wear a mask during a driving test is
excessive at best and dangerous at worst. Few if any drivers
will be wearing masks when they are behind the wheel of a car.
Young drivers at this point in time have not worn masks during
practice sessions and it is not fair to them to require them to
wear a mask when they have never had to wear one prior to taking
the test. It is one thing for a Secretary of State employee to
make an individual choice to wear a mask while administering a
driving test, but it is quite another to require the person
taking the test to wear a mask especially when there is no
justifiable reason to do so," the letter said.
A spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office issued a
statement to The Center Square that said the policy would remain
in place until May 11.
“Throughout the pandemic, the Secretary of State’s office has
implemented protocols to protect the health and safety of
employees and the residents of Illinois. Although we have
adjusted these protocols to meet changing circumstances
throughout the pandemic, we have measures that follow this goal
in place until May 11, which aligns the state with the federal
government's decision to end the national public health
emergency on that date,” the statement read.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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