Peoria officials declined to take any new questions on the Restore Heart of Illinois phased reopening planat the regularly scheduled COVID-19 press conference Thursday.
Reading from a prepared statement, Peoria City/County Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson said local officials are still awaiting feedback from the governor's office.
"This plan was submitted to the governor's office and the Illinois Department of Public Health last week and is still under review," she said. "Our region, along with the rest of the state, continues to operate under phase two of the governor's Restore Illinois plan."
Salons, barbershops, offices, and most retail stores remain closed under phase two.
Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew Rand and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis indicated at Wednesday's press conference unveiling the local plan that they would continue to "move forward," regardless of whether the plan received the governor's approval.
Local officials haven't indicated how long they will wait for a gubernatorial response before implementing the localized plan, which would allow restaurants, gyms, and most retail establishments to immediately reopen at 50 percent occupancy. Hendrickson said there is still groundwork to lay before moving forward.
The region has met the governor's requirements to move onto phase three of the "Restore Illinois" plan for several weeks, but none of the four large "health regions" in that plan can take additional reopening steps until May 29 at the earliest.
The governor has yet to specifically address the Heart of Illinois plan submitted to his office last week, but did warn Wednesday that communities which disregard his stay-at-home executive order or deviate from his reopening plan could have FEMA reimbursements withheld by the state. Businesses licensed by the state could also face revocations.
Hendrickson said local elected officials were tied up in committee meetings and unable to attend Thursday's media briefing.
Hendrickson encouraged people with questions to read both the Restore Illinois plan and the local HOI plan, which proposes 11 central Illinois counties be treated as a separate subregion from the larger "North-Central" region in the governor's plan to allow for a faster, more localized reopening.
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