The governor also discussed why he is pausing state tax credits for data centers, seven years after the creation of a program that he championed with bipartisan legislative support. Illinois has over 200 data centers. “I think we need to maintain the [incentive] timeout until we have a set of guardrails put in place for data centers,” he said.

In a podcast appearance last week, Gov. JB Pritzker doubled down on his demand for $1,700 “tariff refund checks” to be sent to Illinois families. “It has made life more expensive, about $1,700 per family. Oh, by the way, the Supreme Court has ruled that it was unconstitutional – the imposition of those tariffs. He still hasn’t paid people back,” Pritzker said.

Rachel Tarrence was shot while in her car in the drive-thru of an East St. Louis liquor store Jan. 4, to inform them of his decision. Trooper Gary Blake Novack fired three shots at Tarrence, who was not armed, striking her twice. She died several hours later at a St. Louis hospital.

“Unfortunately, it has provided an excuse for continuous increases in school funding without regard to a district’s academic performance, while protecting underperforming districts from enrollment losses.”

AFSCME Council 31’s questionable spending could be driving workers away. The union’s report with the Labor Department reveals that just 20 percent of its spending was on “representational activities” in 2025, it spent a record-high $3.4 million on politics that year, and nearly half of its own officers and employees made over $100,000.

Pricing transparency should apply not only at a business’ check-out, but also in Springfield. In the budgeting process for fiscal 2026, lawmakers managed to include 2,815 earmarks of over $200,000 each. They included a $7 million grant to help move the University of Illinois’ pigs, $2.6 million in grants to develop and run tennis and pickleball courts, and $742,847 to the Floating Museum.

Jim Dey: “These early polls don’t reveal much but name recognition, and there’s no good reason why an Illinois governor should be well known outside Illinois. But he will be if and when Pritzker starts carpet-bombing primary election states with television and radio ads.”

“This is not about keeping a private school from closing or filling a budget gap in a public school district,” said Peter Murphy, of the Invest in Education Foundation. “It’s parent-directed education.”

The latest boondoggle from Pritzker is the May 2026 announcement that Richardson Electronics, located in La Fox, Illinois, is partnering with Gotion, Inc. in Manteno to support battery energy storage systems (BESS) production and deployment. None of these deals make sense economically. Grid-scale solar and BESS would not be built without massive taxpayer subsidies and renewable portfolio energy mandates.

“In 2025 alone, the General Assembly enacted 44 unfunded mandates affecting counties and municipalities, and considered over 195 pension-related bills in the 2025-26 session, many with significant long-term implications. That should concern every Illinois taxpayer,” (Joe Ferguson, who heads the Chicago-based Civic Federation) writes.

“True Value making a business decision not to move across the country, but to move one state over to our friends to the east, Indiana, is really telling,” state Sen. Chris Balkema said. “They just want relief.”

Animal rights advocates are calling for legislative action after gaps in Illinois sentencing law allowed a convicted kitten killer to be released from prison after serving less than one day of his four-and-a-half year sentence.