SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — With few other outlets, statehouse Republicans are considering their own public hearings with stakeholders if Democrats won’t address Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Senate Transportation Committee holds a hearing Thursday on equity in Multi-Year Program funding. No House hearings have been scheduled for August. There have been no public hearings about the governor’s response to COVID-19 all pandemic.

In criticizing the lack of meetings by the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reforms, state Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, listed off a slew of other committees and commissions that have met publicly during the pandemic.

Wehrli also said it’s important to get to the bottom of the lack of long-term care facility oversight after revelations the state failed to investigate more than 270 allegations of abuse and neglect for more than three months during the pandemic.

“As much as I want to get back to Springfield and address ethics, I think this is something also that we need to be making sure that we keep a watchful eye on to ensure that it does not happen again,” Wehrli said. “We do not know what the future holds for COVID in the fall and winter.”

State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, floated the idea with his fellow House Republicans to let their Democratic colleagues know they want public hearings. If there’s no response, he said the GOP needs to hold their own public hearings “where we have people in to talk about these issues.”

“I’m sure there’s plenty of people involved that would want to talk about these issues,” Butler told WMAY. “If the Democrats don’t want to join us in holding people responsible, I think we need to have our own, and get the issues out there, and hold our own hearings.”

Some Democrats have said they have working group conversations, but those are mostly private. Others are still worried about meeting amid COVID-19 concerns.

Multiple messages over several days seeking comment from the Democratic chairman of the House and Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees long-term care facilities, have not been returned.

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said having the GOP lawmakers hold their own hearings is a good idea, but there are other avenues to put pressure on the Pritzker administration to be transparent.

“Ultimately, the people of Illinois, they’re the ones that need to stand up and say ‘enough’s enough,’” Wilhour said.

By GREG BISHOP for the Illinois Radio Network