Pritzker: state agencies are "showing up" for storm victims

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said state workers are busy helping people affected by this week's severe weather, despite claims from his Republican challenger in this fall's election.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that at least three tornadoes touched down in Chicago's south suburbs on Tuesday. The governor toured storm damage in Lansing on Friday afternoon, and during a bill-signing on Chicago's Southwest side sought to reassure people that the state is busy helping those in need.

"We have a variety of agencies that are responding to these storms," the governor told reporters. "The recognition of the damage and making sure that our agencies are showing up to do the work on the ground is important, and we do that every time."

However, Gov. Pritzker's Republican challenger, former state Sen. Darren Bailey, claimed that his campaign office has been getting calls for assistance from people who live in the damage zone.

"Government has been nowhere to be found, and that's probably the single most important issue that I heard," Bailey told reporters during an appearance Thursday in Frankfort. He criticized the governor for waiting to visit storm-damaged areas, for an apparent delay in issuing a disaster declaration, and for his ongoing feud with President Trump that has led FEMA to reject several requests for storm aid for areas of Illinois.

"Governor Pritzker, I am asking you ... I am pleading with you ... please make state resources available to the families and communities that desperately need them," said Bailey.

The governor on Friday said a disaster declaration is not made right away because experts need time to assess damage, so that it can be presented to federal authorities: "We take that document, that disaster declaration, and essentially present it to the federal government and say 'we've declared a disaster, now it's time for you to deliver.'"

He also said that he usually waits to visit storm-damaged areas because he doesn't want to "interfere" with assessment and recovery crews on the ground.

"Remember what my job is ... it's to make sure that our agencies are showing up to do the work that they're supposed to do ... and we have done that," Gov. Pritzker said.