* Gov. JB Pritzker did several interviews with reporters yesterday. Subscribers have my report, but here are some highlights from the others. Mary Ann Ahern at NBC 5…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said while he anticipates opening up vaccine eligibility - particularly in the months ahead to meet President Joe Biden’s deadline of having all adults eligible by May 1 - the exact timing of Illinois’ expansion isn’t clear.

“No announcements yet about what 1C would look like, I just think that people should start to think very much about you know the fact that we’re going to open this up to everybody relatively sooner than I think people expected,” Pritzker said during the interview Monday. “Certainly by May 1 and we’ll do it sooner than that I believe in the state of Illinois.”

* CBS 2’s Dana Koslov focused on the IDES backlog…

Kozlov: “We’re a year in. Why is this still happening?”

Pritzker: “Well, let me begin by just saying that when you’re in the most difficult moment of your life – when you’ve lost your employment and you need help – you ought to be able to get to it.”

And that is exactly why alarms sounded when Acting IDES Director Kristin Richards stated, at a hearing, that some callback times were getting worse. She said current response times were “upwards of four weeks.”

Pritzker disputes that, calling it inaccurate. But he did say: “We’ve gotten better at this, but it’s not good enough. There’s no doubt about it. It’s not good enough, and that’s why we continue to apply people, technology, dollars to fixing the system; making it easier.”

Fixing it would make the questions go away. Just sayin.

* Greg Hinz at Crain’s…

After a full year of COVID-19 battles that has taken a toll on him and his state, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he has no real second thoughts about the decisions he’s made to fight the pandemic.

“If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have made some changes,” such as implementing a statewide mask order earlier, Pritzker said in an interview late Monday, exactly one year after the state’s first COVID death. Of all government restrictions, “it’s clear masks have done the most” to slow the infection rate.

To date, Illinois has reported nearly 21,000 COVID-related fatalities and 1.2 million cases. That’s actually more on a per capita basis than in some states, notably Florida, which imposed far fewer restrictions for a far shorter time than Illinois, and whose experience has made some wonder if Pritzker made the right tradeoff.

Pritzker rejected that suggestion. Florida “is different,” he said, with a much different population mix than Illinois and a warmer climate which keeps people outside more often and away from indoor venues where the virus spreads more quickly.

The better comparison to make would be with New York and California, particularly New York City and Los Angeles. “Hospitals were over-run” in New York last spring and in LA this winter,” he noted. “That didn’t happen here.”

Just as an aside…

“From March to early June, Republican-led states had lower Covid-19 incidence rates compared with Democratic-led states. On June 3, the association reversed, and Republican-led states had higher incidence,” the study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Medical University of South Carolina showed.

“For death rates, Republican-led states had lower rates early in the pandemic, but higher rates from July 4 through mid-December,” the study found.

* Mike Flannery at Fox 32…

The governor says a hoped-for summer re-opening of the tourism-hospitality business, Illinois’ second-largest employer, is not entirely up to politicians.

“And I think it’s very important for us to recognize that there are a lot of people who are still afraid. And I don’t blame them,” Pritzker said.

* Rachel Hinton at the Sun-Times…

“Remember, a hurricane hit us effectively with this pandemic and what Donald Trump ignited was a heavy headwind in addition to the hurricane that was hitting us,” Pritzker said. “I had to just decide that this wasn’t about politics and that, even if he was trying to convince people not to wear masks … that I needed to do everything that I could to keep people safe. And that’s what I’ve done.”

The governor gave an emphatic “no” when asked if he was worried that his efforts during the pandemic may tank his potential bid for a second term, adding “I’m focused on doing what’s right for the people of the state of Illinois and not on the politics.” […]

Half the funds from the recently passed COVID-19 relief bill should be available by April and the state has to make sure they’re used “prudently,” Pritzker said.

“What’s important about it is we we’ve got to make sure that those dollars are used prudently, that we pay down debt that we incurred as a result of the coronavirus, that we pay down bills that were incurred during this pandemic and that we ignite job creation and economic growth with those dollars,” Pritzker said. “I think that’s the best and wisest use for us in this pandemic, and that’s what I’m here to encourage the Legislature to do.” […]

Pritzker is eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1B plus, but he said he’s waiting to get his dose to avoid jumping the line.

* Mark Maxwell at WCIA…

While Pritzker stopped short of calling on Cuomo to resign, he said he supports a “thorough investigation,” believes the women accusing Cuomo of harassment and misconduct “should be listened to,” and suggested the Albany legislature may decide to remove him from office.

“A decision needs to get made in New York by the people of New York, by the people in the legislature in New York, whether or not Governor Cuomo should stay in office,” Pritzker said.

When asked if he plans to run for re-election in 2022, Pritzker said, “that’s not something I’m thinking about right now.”

* Marissa Nelson and Amanda Vinicky at WTTW…

“I feel better today than I have this entire year,” Pritzker said Monday during an interview with “Chicago Tonight.” “As you see, our numbers have significantly declined, the numbers of people going into the hospital, getting sick, going on a ventilator in an ICU, and we’ve got more people vaccinated on a per capita basis than any other of the top 10 largest states in the country.”

On Monday, Illinois launched a COVID-19 vaccine hotline to help residents book appointments — a process many have found to be challenging.

“We have a decentralized public health system in the state of Illinois, and so 97 local public health departments,” Pritzker said. “They don’t answer to the state, they answer to their local county governments. That’s been one of the challenges.”

Illinois offered the same appointment-making software to every local public health department, but many chose not to use it, he said.

* Hannah Meisel at WUIS…

Though COVID-19 has been all-encompassing this year, Pritzker has also dealt with issues not directly related to the pandemic — and much ink has been spilled over a string of perceived political losses. In November, voters overwhelmingly rejected his signature graduated income tax constitutional amendment, which he spent more than three years — and millions of his own dollars — campaigning on as both a gubernatorial candidate and as governor.

Pritzker recently backed Chicago Ald. Michelle Harris (8) to head the Democratic Party of Illinois after the departure of longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan from party chair last month, only to see U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson ascend to the position with backing from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. The governor also failed to muscle through a significant revenue-related bill during lawmakers’ Lame Duck session in January.

In these losses — coupled with the tension that’s built up between the executive and legislative branches of government during the past year where Pritzker has mostly ruled via executive order — does the governor think he has any bridges to mend with fellow Democrats and voters?

“Look, I’ve not been focused on the politics what I’ve been focused on is really keeping people safe, keeping them alive,” Pritzker said. “If I was focused on politics, I would have made different decisions and more people would have died.”

A recent poll from 1892 Polling found voters were split 41% to 41% on public opinion of Pritzker, with 18% reporting no opinion. Pritzker on Monday dismissed that poll for its pollster’s history in Republican politics, including former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s 2014 campaign, and instead pivoted to programs his administration set up to help struggling Illinoisans.

“It’s been a difficult year for everybody, there’s no doubt about it,” Pritzker said. “What I’ve been focused on is lifting people up trying to get them the assistance that they need, whether it’s with the largest rental assistance program in the United States, the Business Interruption Grant [BIG] program, the childcare support program that we put in place — the largest in the United States and uses a model now nationally.”

He did an interview with the Tribune, I’m told, but it’s not up yet.

…Adding… Oops. Missed one. Dave McKinney and Tony Arnold at WBEZ…

Another GOP criticism directed at Pritzker involves his administration’s inability to safeguard residents of Illinois’ state-run veterans’ homes from COVID-19. Since the pandemic began, nearly 80 COVID-19 deaths have been reported at state-run veterans’ homes, with 36 of those fatalities reported at the LaSalle veterans’ home alone.

“It does get to this level of (a) …question of competence,” said Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, one of Pritzker’s harshest critics in the General Assembly. “Just because you have a pandemic going on, just because you have a long-term crisis, doesn’t mean the governor should get a pass in regards to this level of mismanagement on these and other things.” […]

But Pritzker shrugged off any negativity from the newly seated top Senate Republican.

“It’s clear there’s a lot of politics involved here. The Senate minority leader, Dan McConchie, [has] consistently been wrong in his criticism. Remember that it’s his caucus and members of his caucus that have been frequently the ones who are telling people ‘don’t worry about wearing masks, don’t worry about mitigations,’ that in fact have seen deaths and people getting sick in their areas,” the governor said.

“There’s been very little leadership on the part of Republicans, in general, and specifically here in Illinois,” Pritzker said.