Jay Robert Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

. A member of the wealthy

Pritzker family The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in various business enterprises and philanthropy, and one of the wealthiest families in the United States (staying in the top 10 of ''Forbes'' magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since th ...

that owns the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

hotel chain, Pritzker has started several venture capital and investment startups, including the Pritzker Group, where he is managing partner. Born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, Pritzker graduated from

Milton Academy Milton Academy (informally referred to as Milton) is a coeducational, co-educational, Independent school, independent, and College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts, educating students in g ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, and

Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. The law school is l ...

. He co-founded Pritzker Group Private Capital and was involved in several other business ventures, including

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

, a digital startup incubator. In 1998, he ran to represent

Illinois's 9th congressional district The 9th congressional district of Illinois covers parts of Cook County, Illinois, Cook, Lake County, Illinois, Lake, and McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry counties as of the 2021 redistricting which followed the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, but lost in the Democratic primary. He chaired the Illinois Human Rights Commission from 2003 to 2006 under Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

. Before entering politics, Pritzker was a longtime financial supporter and active member of the Democratic Party. He won the crowded Democratic primary for governor of Illinois in the 2018 gubernatorial election. He defeated Republican incumbent

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, venture capitalist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he had a decades-long career in inves ...

in the general election on November 6, and took office on January 14, 2019. During his governorship, Pritzker has focused on

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection ( taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, healthcare, and criminal justice reform. He has legalized recreational cannabis, expanded

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

access, and managed the

COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois The COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. state of Illinois on January 24, 2020, when a woman in Chicago, who had just returned from the pandemic's place of origin in Wuhan, Hubei, China, tested positive for the virus. This was the second case o ...

. Pritzker was reelected in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, defeating

Darren Bailey Darren Bailey (born March 17, 1966) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Illinois Senate for the 55th District and previously a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 109th District in Southern Illinois. ...

. As of May 2025, his estimated net worth is $3.7 billion, according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''.

Early life, family, and education

Pritzker was born in

, on January 19, 1965. He is the son of

Donald Pritzker Donald Nicholas Pritzker (October 31, 1932 – May 6, 1972) was an American businessman. He was a member of the Pritzker family and served as the president of Hyatt, where he helped grow the hotel chain. Early life and education Pritzker wa ...

and Sue Pritzker (née Sandel). A member of the

, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family of Ukrainian descent, prominent in business and philanthropy during the late 20th century, Pritzker is named after both of his paternal uncles,

Jay Pritzker Jay Arthur Pritzker (August 26, 1922 – January 23, 1999) was an American businessman and member of the Pritzker family. He was a founder of the Hyatt Corporation, having purchased the first Hyatt Hotel in 1957, and was responsible for ...

and

Robert Pritzker Robert Alan Pritzker (June 30, 1926 – October 27, 2011) was an American businessman and member of the wealthy Pritzker family. Biography Pritzker was born to a American Jews, Jewish family, the Pritzker family,Abe Pritzker was a business lawyer. The Pritzkers have consistently been near the top of the ''

'' "America's Richest Families" list since its 1982 inception. Donald Pritzker was the president of Hyatt Hotels; he died in 1972 of a heart attack at age 39.Los Angeles Times: "Rooms With a View : Chance Encounter Led to Creation of Rapidly Expanding Hyatt Hotels Chain' by NANCY RIVERA BROOKS
November 24, 1987 Sue Pritzker died in an accident at age 49 in 1982. Pritzker's older siblings are Anthony Pritzker and former

United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...

Penny Pritzker Penny Sue Pritzker (born May 2, 1959) is an American billionaire heiress, businesswoman and lawyer who served as the 38th United States secretary of commerce in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. She was confirmed by a Senate vote of 97 ...

. Pritzker has said that certain overseas trusts for which he was the designated beneficiary were set up by his grandfather and are used only for charitable contributions, yielding no personal benefit to him. Pritzker was raised in

Atherton, California Atherton ( ) is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,823 as of July 2023 estimates. The town's zoning regulations permit only one single-family home per acre in new subdivisions, though smal ...

. He attended

, a boarding school in

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Milton is an immediate southern suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton is located in the relatively hilly ...

, and graduated from

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in political science. In 1993, he earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

. He is an attorney and a member of the

Illinois State Bar Association The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among the largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISB ...

and the

Chicago Bar Association Founded in 1874, the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) is a voluntary bar association with over 20,000 members. Like other bar associations, it concerns itself with professional ethics, networking among members, and continuing legal education. It is ...

Business career

Pritzker served as chairman of ChicagoNEXT, Chicago Mayor

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

's council on innovation and technology, and he founded

, a nonprofit digital start-up incubator (named for the year of the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

). He was involved in the creation of the Illinois Venture Capital Association and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. He also co-founded Chicago Ventures and funded the start-up of Techstars Chicago and Built in Chicago. With his brother Tony, Pritzker co-founded Pritzker Group Private Capital, which owns and operates

middle-market companies A middle-market or mid-market company is one that is larger than a small business and smaller than a big business. Different authorities use different metrics to compare company sizes — some look at revenue, others at either asset size or number ...

. The group includes a number of companies, including pallet rental leader PECO Pallet and medical device maker Clinical Innovations. Pritzker received the Entrepreneurial Champion Award from the

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization promoting business in the Chicago metropolitan area of the United States. The organization is located in the Wrigley Building at 410 N. Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Magnificent Mile ...

in 2008 for his efforts to promote economic development and job creation.

Early political career

Work as D.C. staffer

In the 1980s, Pritzker served on the legislative staffs of U.S. Representative

Tom Lantos Thomas Peter Lantos (born Tamás Péter Lantos; February 1, 1928 – February 11, 2008) was a Hungarian-born American politician who served as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California from 1981 until his deat ...

, U.S. Senator

Terry Sanford James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917April 18, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford served as the 65th Governor of North Carolina from 1961 to 1965, was a two-time U.S. pre ...

, and U.S. Senator Alan J. Dixon, making trade and transportation issues a top priority.J.B. Pritzker announces bid for Congress
''Daily Republican-Register''.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. September 8, 1997. After his career in Washington D.C., Pritzker founded Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, a national organization dedicated to attracting voters under 40 to the Democratic Party.

1998 congressional campaign

Anticipating that

Sidney R. Yates Sidney Richard Yates (August 27, 1909 – October 5, 2000) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who represented the state of Illinois in the United States House of Representatives for twenty-four terms from 1949 to 1963 a ...

(the longtime Democratic incumbent in Illinois's 9th district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

) might retire instead of seeking reelection, Pritzker laid the groundwork for possible

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

campaigns for his seat. Both times, Yates waffled for months about whether he would retire, then ran for reelection. Each time, after Yates announced his intention to run, Pritzker abandoned his plans to run. In both of these elections (as well as in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

), State Representative

Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999, and she previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Re ...

similarly explored a potential run if Yates were to retire, and similarly opted not to run once Yates announced his intention to seek reelection. Pritzker had established a campaign committee in 1993. By the end of the 1996 cycle, the committee raised more than $120,000, and spent most of this money on operating expenditures. In 1998, Yates opted to forgo reelection, and Pritzker ran in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

to succeed him, reconstituting his campaign committee in April 1997. Also running in the primary were Schakowsky and state senator Howard W. Carroll. The district represented the northern lakefront of Chicago, as well as the suburbs of Evanston and Skokie. It had a large Jewish electorate and had long been regarded as the "Jewish seat" in Illinois's congressional delegation. Yates was Jewish, as were all three Democratic contenders to succeed him. Originally also running was a (non-Jewish) fourth candidate: Charles A. "Pat" Boyle, an attorney (whose late father, Charles A. Boyle, had served as a congressman in the 1950s). However, Boyle's candidacy was largely overlooked. The district had been described as being among the most liberal in the country. Journalist James Ylisela Jr. observed that Pritzker, Schakowsky, and Carroll largely all ran on platforms aligned with the "liberal Democratic Party agenda" that Yates had championed. But the ''Chicago Tribune'' wrote that Pritzker and Caroll ran on more moderate platforms than Schakowsky, and therefore potentially wound up competing with each other for many of the same voters. At the time, the election was one of the most expensive congressional primaries in U.S. history, and Pritzker spent nearly $1 million of his own money on his campaign (including $500,000 on television ads in the Chicago market). He finished third among five candidates in the Democratic primary, with 20.5% of the vote to Schakowsky's 45.1% and Carroll's 34.4%.

State and national politics

Governor

appointed Pritzker to chair the

Illinois Human Rights Commission Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash and Ohio rivers to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-large ...

. He held that position from 2003 to 2006. After he left the chairmanship, Blagojevich appointed former White House counsel and federal judge

Abner J. Mikva Abner Joseph Mikva ( ; January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, and legal scholar. He was a member of the Democratic Party. After serving in the Illinois House of Representatives, Mikva ran for congress in 19 ...

to succeed him. In the 2008 presidential election, Pritzker served as national co-chair of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's campaign. He was a delegate to the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...

and the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the maj ...

. He supported

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the 2008 general election and helped bring the Clinton and Obama campaigns in Illinois together. In May 2017, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' published an 11-minute FBI wiretap of Pritzker and Blagojevich in 2008 discussing campaign contributions and options for Pritzker to be appointed to statewide office. At the time, Pritzker was described as a "businessman with political ambitions". On the tapes, Blagojevich asked Pritzker if he would like to be appointed state treasurer, to which Pritzker, who has a background in finance, responded, "Yeah, that's the one I would want." Pritzker's general election opponent Governor

and Pritzker's Democratic primary opponents took issue with his conduct. Pritzker responded to the allegations: "I've not been accused of any wrongdoing. I have not done anything wrong." Law enforcement made no allegations of wrongdoing against Pritzker, and he has said: "over decades of my life, I have been doing public service, and the opportunity to continue to do public service as treasurer of the state was something that had been brought up, and so there was a conversation about that." Pritzker later apologized for a number of controversial and incendiary comments he made in that conversation. He and Blagojevich discussed filling

's U.S. Senate seat, with Pritzker saying that appointing then-Secretary of State Jesse White would "cover you on the African-American thing" and that he was the "least offensive" candidate. After the tape was released, White continued to support Pritzker in his 2018 gubernatorial campaign and accepted his apology, saying he knew "where his heart is" and "I consider him a very good friend".

Governor of Illinois (since 2019)

Elections

2018

On April 6, 2017, Pritzker announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor of Illinois. He was endorsed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, Illinois Congressman

Luis Gutiérrez Luis Vicente Gutiérrez (born December 10, 1953) is an American politician. He served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2019. From 1986 until his election to United States Congress, Congress, he ...

, former Illinois Congressman Glenn Poshard, more than a dozen members of the Illinois General Assembly, 21 local labor unions, and the Illinois

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

. On August 10, 2017, Pritzker announced that his running mate would be freshman State Representative and fellow Chicago resident

Juliana Stratton Juliana Stratton (née Wiggins; born September 8, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 48th lieutenant governor of Illinois since 2019. She won the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial election, 2018 and 2022 Illinois gubernatorial el ...

. By December 2017, Pritzker had spent $42million of his own money on his campaign without receiving funding from any other source. On March 20, 2018, he won the Democratic primary by a large margin, receiving 45.13% of the vote and defeating five opponents. On November 6, 2018, Pritzker defeated incumbent Republican governor

in the general election, receiving 54.53% of the vote to Rauner's 38.83%. Pritzker was well ahead of Rauner in most polls from the summer of 2018 onward, and won by the largest margin in a gubernatorial race since

. Pritzker spent $171.5 million of his own money on his campaign, primarily on digital outreach, television advertising, and staff. Pritzker was inaugurated as Illinois's 43rd governor on January 14, 2019. With an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion in January 2019, he became the richest politician in the U.S. His second term in office began on January 9, 2023.

2022

In June 2021, it was reported that Pritzker was considering retiring after one term in office. But on July 19, he confirmed on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he would run for reelection, with Stratton again as his running mate. He won the June 28 Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee

in the November 8 general election, 54.91% to 42.37%. He is the first Illinois governor to have been elected to a second term since

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, when

was reelected. If Pritzker serves two full terms, he will be the first governor to do so since

Jim Edgar James Robert Edgar (born July 22, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A Moderate Republican (modern United States), moderate Republican Party (United States), Republican, he previously s ...

and the first Democratic governor in Illinois history to do so, as every other Democratic governor was impeached, died, or resigned before finishing a second term. In 2024, Pritzker was mentioned as a possible running mate for

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

in her 2024 presidential campaign, but Minnesota Governor

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...

was chosen instead. Harris lost the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Cabinet

2019–20 fiscal year

On June 5, 2019, Pritzker signed a bipartisan $40 billion balanced budget for the 2019–20 fiscal year. The budget included $29 million in additional funding for efforts to encourage participation in the U.S. Census. Public spending increases were paid for by tax increases. A separate bill Pritzker signed imposed sales taxes on online retailers, a tax on insurance companies, and decoupled the Illinois state income tax from a federal tax cut for companies that bring their foreign profits to the U.S. The budget neglected any potential revenue that might be collected from the legalization of recreational marijuana. In addition, people who owed taxes from between June 30, 2011, and July 1, 2018, were able to take advantage of a "tax amnesty" program that allowed them to pay without penalty. The governor's office had expected a $150 million surplus, which it planned to use to pay down the state's $6 billion backlog of unpaid bills.

Abortion legislation

In June 2019, Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 25, or the Reproductive Health Act. The act repealed the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975, which penalized doctors for performing abortions considered "unnecessary", and the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act". This new bill ensured the "fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about one's own reproductive health", specifically the right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term or to terminate it, and denies a zygote, an embryo, or a fetus "independent rights under the law" of the State of Illinois. Pritzker encouraged states that have passed restrictions on abortion to reconsider their positions and added that women from other states can seek refuge in his. After ''Roe v. Wade'' was overturned, Illinois became an abortion access state for people in the South and Midwest whose states ban abortion, with 30% of abortions being for out-of-state residents. Abortions in Illinois increased by over 45% in the year after ''Roe'' was overturned, primarily due to patients traveling from states with abortion bans.

Cannabis

On May 31, 2019, the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

passed the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act legalizing and regulating the production, consumption, and sale of adult-use cannabis. On June 25, 2019, Pritzker signed the legislation into law, which went into effect on January 1, 2020. Illinois was the 11th U.S. state to legalize recreational use of cannabis. Criminal records of people caught possessing less than 30 grams were cleared. Tax revenue collected from cannabis sales is used to invest in impoverished communities affected by the War on Drugs and in drug rehabilitation programs. After the first month of legalization, cannabis sales generated approximately $10.4 million in tax revenue. Cannabis sales generated over $52 million by July 2020 and $445.3 million by the end of 2022. On December 31, 2019, Pritzker pardoned approximately 11,000 people for low-level cannabis convictions.

Child welfare and education

In the balanced budget for the 2019–20 fiscal year, worth $40 billion, the State of Illinois authorized more spending on education, including grade schools, community colleges, and state universities. Funding for grade schools rose by nearly $379 million, more than the $29 million required by the new state funding for education formula passed the previous year. Funding for community colleges increased by $14 million, for public universities by $53 million. Grants for low-income students received a $50 million bump. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, facing financial pressure, received $80 million for hiring new staff and improving services. On top of that, the Rebuild Illinois capital plan spent some $3.2 billion for public colleges and universities over six years. $78 million of that money was allocated to emergency repairs and delayed maintenance. For years, public institutions of higher learning in Illinois had struggled financially and lobbied for increased funding without much success. Budget cuts and ballooning costs had driven Illinois residents out of state. Tuition fees, room and board had doubled in virtually every state college or university since the 2003–04 academic year. According to the

Illinois Board of Higher Education The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) is a state government agency that oversees higher education in the U.S. state of Illinois. The IBHE was created in 1961. Since 2012 the IBHE also permits and oversees business schools and other voca ...

, in 2017, 48.4% of Illinois public high school graduates went on to attend out-of-state institutions. That number was 46.6% in 2016, and 29.3% in 2002. Moreover, data show that Illinoisans chose not just colleges and universities from nearby states such as Iowa and Indiana, but also as far away as Alabama and Utah, lured by financial aid and scholarship packages. Below is a sample of state colleges and universities in line for additional funding. In addition, community colleges statewide received $1.03 billion while private colleges and universities got $400 million for capital projects. AIM High, a merit-based scholarship program for Illinoisans, saw its funding rise to $35 million, up $10 million. Pritzker created the College Student Credit Card Marketing and Debt Task Force (House Bill 1581), whose task it is to look for ways to help students reduce their credit card debts after graduation from an institution of higher education in the state. The task force was to report its findings to the General Assembly by December 4, 2019. Pritzker created a job training program for community colleges funded based on the percentage of low-income students attending. It launched in 2020. In July 2019, Pritzker signed House Bill 2512. Approved unanimously by both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, it requires state universities to report what students pay in tuition fees to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. This is intended to increase transparency in the costs of higher education.

Climate change

Pritzker joined the

United States Climate Alliance The United States Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of states and unincorporated self-governing territories in the United States that are committed to upholding the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change within thei ...

that was created after President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

withdrew the United States from the

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...

COVID-19 pandemic

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Pritzker took several measures to mitigate the pandemic in Illinois. On March 13, 2020, Pritzker declared that public and private schools in Illinois would be closed from March 17 through March 31. On March 15, he announced that all bars and restaurants must close until March 30. Restaurant businesses with delivery and takeout options would still be able to serve. On March 16, 2020, Pritzker issued an executive order limiting permitted crowd sizes to 50 people. Despite pressure from Chicago election officials, he refused to postpone the state's March 17 primary elections, since it was not something that he had the authority to do. On March 20, 2020, Pritzker issued a

stay-at-home order A stay-at-home order, safer-at-home order, movement control order – also referred to by loose use of the terms quarantine, isolation, or lockdown – is an order from a government authority that restricts movements of a population as a mass qu ...

to take effect the next day. Under this order, all non-essential businesses were required to close while essential businesses such as grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals, pharmacies remained open. The order originally ended on April 8. The state government coordinated a public health response. The State of Illinois worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens to provide testing sites in Illinois's hardest-hit communities. By June, amid unrest by some municipalities unhappy with Pritzker's lockdown orders, Mayor Keith Pekau of Orland Park, a suburb southwest of Chicago, and a local restaurateur sued Pritzker in federal court, alleging that the lockdown orders violated state law and the state constitution. U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood ruled against the plaintiffs, allowing the lockdown orders to stay in place. In her ruling, she cited '' Jacobson v Massachusetts'', a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the authority of U.S. states to compel people to get vaccinations. On March 25, 2020, Pritzker announced the extension of Illinois's tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15. He also announced three new emergency assistance programs that allowed small businesses to access more than $90 million in aid. On April 23, 2020, Pritzker extended the stay-at-home order through May 29 with some modifications. Churches were prohibited from holding meetings that had more than 10 people in attendance. Some churches defied Pritzker, held meetings, and filed federal lawsuits. On May 1, 2020, Pritzker enacted a statewide mask mandate. On May 5, 2020, Pritzker announced his reopening plan, "Restore Illinois". The plan had five phases and split the state's 11 existing Emergency Medical Services Regions into four reopening regions. The regions could reopen independently of one another. All regions were then in Phase Two, which allowed retail curbside pickup and delivery along with outdoor activities such as golf, boating, and fishing. Phase Three would allow manufacturing, offices, retail, barbershops, and salons to reopen with capacity limits, along with gatherings of fewer than 10 people. In Phase 4, gatherings of up to 50 people were allowed, restaurants and bars could reopen, travel resumed, and child care and schools reopened under guidance from the IDPH. In Phase 5, the economy fully reopened. Conventions, festivals and large events were permitted, and all businesses, schools, and places of recreation could be fully open. On July 15, 2020, Pritzker announced a new COVID-19 mitigation plan in the event of a resurgence of COVID-19. The metrics that would be used to determine whether COVID-19's spread in a region required additional mitigations were a sustained increase in 7-day rolling average (7 out of 10 days) in the positivity rate and one of the following: a sustained 7-day increase in hospital admissions for a COVID-19 or the reduction in hospital capacity. Another metric was three consecutive days averaging greater than or equal to 8% positivity rate.

On December 4, 2020, Pritzker announced that Illinois would receive 109,000 initial doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine. On February 26, 2021, Pritzker, Cook County Board President

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the incumbent County Board president in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commis ...

, Chicago Mayor

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...

, U.S. Senators

Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...

and

Tammy Duckworth Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard Lieutenant colonel (United States), lieutenant colonel serving since 2017 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States ...

, and the Biden administration announced that eligible Illinoisans could get vaccinated starting March 10 at a new mass vaccination site at the United Center. On July 29, 2021, Pritzker announced that everyone who enters a state building was required to wear a face mask regardless of vaccination status. On August 5, 2021, Pritzker announced that face masks must be worn at all times while inside P-12 schools, daycares, and long-term care facilities regardless of vaccination status. He also announced that face masks were required for all P-12 indoor sports, and that all state employees in congregate facilities must be vaccinated by October 4. On August 26, 2021, Pritzker announced that a statewide indoor mask mandate would be reimposed to handle the surge caused by the Delta variant beginning on August 30. He also announced a vaccine mandate for all education employees in P-12 and higher education statewide and for all higher education students and healthcare workers. Pritzker announced that anyone who did not get a COVID-19 vaccine by September 5 would have to do weekly COVID testing. On September 19, 2021, Pritzker began imposing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for college students, educators and most health care workers. On February 28, 2022, Pritzker lifted most of Illinois's COVID-19 restrictions, including the statewide mask mandate, which came just a few days after the

CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

issued new, more relaxed masking guidance. On July 14, 2022, Pritzker announced the lifting of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for college students.

Criminal justice and law enforcement

On April 1, 2019, Pritzker created Illinois's Youth Parole system. Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 1890, whose goal is to crack down on

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. It requires hospitality business owners to train their employees to recognize victims of trafficking and to teach them the protocols of reporting to authorities. It also establishes penalties for human trafficking, including a fine of up to $100,000 and a Class 1 Felony charge. While serving in the Illinois Senate, Barack Obama sponsored an initiative that would collect data on traffic stops. This was codified when Pritzker signed House Bill 1613 into law. It creates a task force to collect and analyze data on traffic stops to address racial disparities. The task force was to report to the governor and the General Assembly by March 1, 2022, and every three years thereafter. According to the governor's office, the 2019–20 budget funded two classes of Illinois State Police cadets. In July 2019, Pritzker signed a bill that increases penalties for drivers who got involved in a road incident with injuries while texting. Under this bill, a person who causes serious injuries due to driving while texting could be fined at least $1,000 and have their driver's license suspended for a year. The law took effect immediately. In the same month, he signed House Bill 2045, ending the practice of collecting a $5 copay for offsite medical and dental treatments from people detained at a juvenile correction facility. This took effect in January 2020. On December 31, 2020, Pritzker announced the expungement of approximately 500,000 non-felony cannabis-related arrest records. On February 22, 2021, Pritzker signed a criminal justice reform bill that, among other things, makes Illinois the first U.S. state to eliminate

cash bail In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...

. The provision was scheduled to go into effect in January 2023, but was put on hold, pending the Illinois Supreme Court's review. In July 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the elimination of cash bail was constitutional and would go into effect in September 2023.

Gambling

To help pay for his 2019 capital spending bill, Pritzker expanded gambling, allowing more casinos and legalized sports betting. This did not mean new casinos could be built and sports betting could begin right away: granting licenses for such activities is the job of the Illinois Gaming Board, and the process is a complex one, lasting several months or more and involving extensive criminal background checks, among other requirements. According to the governor's office, gambling will bring an additional $350 million in revenue each year. This gambling expansion bill extends to Chicago, something the city wanted. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot emphasized economic development in the city's South and West sides during her campaign. She has argued that a new casino, privately owned, and associated hospitality and entertainment venues will bring money into the city. On May 5, 2022, Lightfoot announced that she had selected

Bally's Corporation Bally's Corporation is an American gambling, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. In the US it operates 19 casinos across 11 states, a horse track in Colorado, a golf course in New York, and ...

's bid to construct a

casino resort A casino hotel is an establishment consisting of a casino with temporary lodging provided in an on-premises hotel. Customers receive the benefits of both gambling facilities and lodging. Since the casino and hotel are located on the same premis ...

near the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...

Gun control

On January 17, 2019, Pritzker signed a bill requiring state certification for gun dealers, which passed during the tenure of his predecessor, Bruce Rauner. It also requires gun dealers to ensure the physical security of their stores, to keep a detailed list of items on sale, and employees of such stores to undergo annual training. These requirements come on top of the mandatory federal license issued by the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

. Proponents say Senate Bill 337 prevents guns from falling "into the wrong hands" while opponents argue it creates additional bureaucracy, imposes a financial burden on gun business owners, and will neither enhance public safety nor reduce crime. The Illinois State Rifle Association argued that the bill violates the

Second Amendment to the United States Constitution The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the Right to keep and bear arms in the United States, right to keep and bear arms. It was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the Un ...

because it interferes with the right to bear arms, and filed a lawsuit alongside eight gun dealers. On May 25, 2022, in response to Texas governor

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

's comments in the aftermath of the

Robb Elementary School shooting The Uvalde school shooting was a mass shooting on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot 19 students and 2 teachers, while inju ...

that Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City crime proves harsher gun laws are not a solution, Pritzker said that a "majority of guns used in Chicago shootings come from states with lax gun laws". Other city and state officials, including Mayor Lightfoot and Attorney General

Kwame Raoul Kwame Raoul (, born September 30, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the 42nd Attorney General of Illinois since 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Raoul represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate fro ...

, also criticized Abbott's comments.

UIC UIC may refer to: Computing * Uranium Information Centre, a defunct website sponsored by uranium mining companies * User identification code, the user number of the Files-11 file system in the RSX-11 operating system Education * University of Ill ...

professor of political science Alexandra Filindra, described as an expert on gun policy, said preventing gun violence must be done on the federal level, that gun rights can coexist with restrictive laws, and that acquisition of weapons in general became easier after the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision '' District of Columbia v. Heller''. On January 11, 2023, Pritzker signed a ban on

assault weapon In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term applied to different kinds of firearms. There is no clear, consistent definition. It can include semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magazine, a pistol grip, and sometime ...

s and

high-capacity magazine A high-capacity magazine (or large-capacity magazine) is a magazine capable of holding a higher than normal number of ammunition rounds for a particular firearm (i.e. more than in a standard magazine for that firearm). A magazine may also be def ...

s. He said of the legislation, "With this legislation we are delivering on the promises Democrats have made and, together, we are making Illinois's gun laws a model for the nation." The new law took effect immediately, with approximately 2.5 million Illinois gun owners affected. Gun rights organizations pledged to challenge the law in court, saying, "Almost the entire bill is a constitutional issue", according to the Illinois State Rifle Association. An Effingham County judge issued a temporary injunction preventing implementation of the law on January 20, 2023. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the law constitutional and allowed it to take effect. Lawsuits are also pending in federal court and in

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford County, ...

Health care

In 2019, Pritzker approved a tax on private insurance that will go into the state's Medicaid program.

Immigration

On January 24, 2019, Pritzker signed an executive order expanding access to Illinois welcome centers for

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

and refugees. Welcome centers help guide immigrants on a path to citizenship and refugees with access to health care, education, jobs, and legal services. On June 21, 2019, Pritzker signed a bill banning the operation of private immigration detention centers in Illinois. Another bill forbids state and local police to cooperate with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to deport illegal immigrants. College students who are undocumented immigrants or identify as transgender may apply for state financial aid for college. (Federal aid requires proof of citizenship and those who were assigned male at birth to register for the draft.) Pritzker erased the drug conviction of an Army veteran in August 2019. Miguel Perez Jr. suffered a brain injury while serving in Afghanistan and was diagnosed with

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

. He was deported to Mexico in 2018 after spending seven years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to a drug crime and held a green card as a permanent U.S. resident. Perez's supporters hope the pardon will help him return to the U.S.

Infrastructure

In late June 2019, Pritzker signed the bipartisan capital bill named Rebuild Illinois, worth $45 billion to be spent in six years and estimated to create 540,000 jobs. It was the first capital spending bill in Illinois in 10 years. The plan includes $33.2 billion for transportation projects, including $25 billion for road upgrades, with local governments deciding which roads they want to prioritize, $3.5 billion for public and private schools and universities, $1 billion for environmental protection, $420 million for expanding broadband Internet service to rural Illinois, $465 million for health care and human services facilities, and $1.8 billion for libraries, museums, and minority-owned businesses. Financing for this plan will come from multiple sources. The gas tax was set to match inflation since the last gas tax increase in 1990, increasing from 19 cents per gallon to 38 cents; the special fuel tax on diesel,

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

, and propane increased to 7.5 cents per gallon. Fuel taxes will be indexed to inflation. Vehicle registration fees increased by $50. The state's bonding authority will increase from $22.6 billion to $60.8 billion. Newly authorized casinos are expected to create thousands of jobs and deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for construction projects.

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

municipalities may raise their own gas taxes by up to three cents per gallon, though Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she opposed raising the gas tax in her city and increasing

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...

fares. The capital bill also stipulates the creation of an apprenticeship program in the construction industry to provide part of the labor force necessary. Transportation spending includes money for mass transit and pedestrian paths, with hundreds of millions going to projects involving Chicago. Some major projects are the reconstruction and capacity enhancement of the

Kennedy Expressway The John F. Kennedy Expressway is a nearly freeway in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Portions of the freeway carry I-190, I-90 and I-94. The freeway runs in a southeast–northwest direction between the central city neighborhood of the ...

($561 million), expanding an Amtrak service between Chicago and Rockford ($275 million), and upgrades for the

Pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US *Pace Airlines, an American charter airline * Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

suburban bus service ($220 million). Millions of dollars will be spent on improving the Chicago–St. Louis higher-speed railway, and moving passenger and rail traffic in Springfield to one set of tracks, eliminating a physical barrier. As justification for the multi-billion-dollar spending bill and the accompanying tax hikes, Pritzker said that Illinois had not had a major infrastructure plan for two decades and asserted that improved infrastructure would help drivers on repairs. In June 2019, Pritzker deployed 200 Illinois National Guardsmen to combat flooding across central and southern Illinois. The troops were tasked with sandbagging, protecting levees and keeping evacuation routes open. In August 2019, he officially requested a federal disaster declaration for 32 Illinois counties due to flooding since February 2019. The request came after the state's disaster assessment was concluded.

Labor

JB Pritzker and Jun Yanagi in January 2025

On February 19, 2019, Pritzker signed into law a bill that raises the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, making Illinois the fifth state in the nation and first state in the Midwest to do so. The bill includes a tax credit for small businesses to help them deal with higher costs of labor and maintains the ability of restaurant owners to count tips toward pay. On April 12, 2019, Pritzker signed the Collective Bargaining Freedom Act, which protects the right of employers, employees, and their labor organizations to collectively bargain, ensuring that Illinois complies with the National Labor Relations Act. On May 17, 2019, Pritzker signed legislation to help workers exposed to toxic substances. Pritzker signed House Bill 2028, which passed both the Senate and House of Illinois unanimously. This bill doubles the compensation rate for families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty from $10,000 to $20,000.

LGBT rights

In June 2019, Pritzker signed an executive order requiring schools across the state to be "affirming and inclusive" of transgender and non-binary students. He also asked the State Board of Education to take a lead on LGBT rights by making relevant resources easily accessible.

National politics

In 2023, Pritzker declined to speak directly with Representative

Dean Phillips Dean Benson Phillips ( Pfefer; born January 20, 1969) is an American politician, businessman, philanthropist, and former presidential candidate who served from 2019 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, Phi ...

regarding his effort to try to convince him to challenge President Biden in the Democratic presidential primary.

Taxation

On the same day as the 2019–20 state budget, Pritzker signed the "Fair Tax" law, which offered a constitutional amendment to voters in the November 2020 election to replace Illinois's flat tax with graduated rates. He promised that income taxes would not increase for Illinoisans who make $250,000 a year or less, who are 97% of the state's wage earners. Pritzker and his supporters said changing income tax laws was the first step toward comprehensive state tax reform. The proposed graduated income tax rates were: According to the governor's office, under this proposal, families and couples would see tax cuts across the board. For example, a family of four making $61,000 a year would pay $41 less in income tax before any other tax exemptions or deductions. Moreover, there would be a tax credit of up to $100 per child for individuals making less than $80,000 and joint filers earning under $100,000. The corporate tax rate would rise from 7% to 7.95%, equal to the highest personal rate. In addition, Pritzker wanted to increase the property tax credit to 6% from 5%. Pritzker donated more than $55 million to "Vote Yes for Fairness", a committee that supported the tax change. The tax change set up a fight between Pritzker and Ken Griffin, who donated over $50 million to a group opposing it. Griffin called Pritzker "spineless", accusing him of trying "to sell a trick disguised as a solution", and pointed to Pritzker's offshore trusts and personal tax avoidance schemes as hypocritical. Pritzker claimed that his income tax proposal would bring $3.4 billion in tax revenue. As of 2019, Illinois had $8.5 billion of unpaid bills and $134 billion of pension liabilities. The gas tax that funds the 2019 infrastructure plan, 38 cents per gallon and indexed to inflation, took effect on July 1, 2019. As of 2019, Illinois had one of the highest fuel taxes in the U.S.

Tobacco

On April 7, 2019, Pritzker made Illinois the first state in the Midwest to adopt

Tobacco 21 Tobacco 21 is a campaign to prevent youth tobacco use in the United States, primarily through laws that raise the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco and nicotine in the United States to 21. It also refers to various federal, state, and local l ...

. As part of his plan to fund capital projects, Pritzker raised the sales tax on cigarettes by $1.

Public employee pensions

Pritzker refused to take on the City of Chicago's pension liabilities, believing that would jeopardize Illinois's credit rating. Moody's raised it to one level above "junk" after Illinois passed a balanced budget in 2019. But Pritzker did not reject the possibility of allowing Chicago to pool its pension funds with other parts of the state, and created a task force to find ways to tackle municipalities' ballooning pension debts.

Voting rights

In June 2020, Pritzker signed legislation to expand voting by making Election Day a state holiday.

Welfare

The 2019–20 budget spent $230 million on a new Quincy Veterans Home, and $21 million on the Chicago Veterans Home. In July 2019, Pritzker signed House Bill 3343, creating a food program for the elderly, the disabled, and the homeless. Such individuals may collect their benefits from a private business that has a contract with the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to provide meals with discounts. This is the state implementation of the federal

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintai ...

(SNAP). The IDHS was to initiate this program no later than January 1, 2020.

Approval rating

Political positions

Environmental issues

On January 23, 2019, Pritzker committed Illinois to the

U.S. Climate Alliance The United States Climate Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of states and unincorporated self-governing territories in the United States that are committed to upholding the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change within thei ...

, which aims to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by over 26% by 2025. In 2017, it was revealed that both Pritzker and his 2018 gubernatorial primary opponent Christopher G. Kennedy had stock holdings in

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...

, and

ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in t ...

, raising questions about whether either of them had genuine commitments to reducing climate change. In 2023, Pritzker vetoed legislation to lift a moratorium on

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

construction in Illinois, citing concerns over

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

Gun control

Pritzker supports bans on various types of firearms and magazines. He also supports strict and universal firearm registration.

Abortion

Pritzker is

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

and a vocal supporter of abortion rights. During the 2018 gubernatorial Democratic primaries,

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

supported Pritzker, along with Kennedy and Biss. On January 22, 2019, Pritzker signed an executive order giving state employees and women covered under Illinois state health insurance expanded reproductive coverage, including abortion.

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

officials praised the move and attended the signing event. In October 2023, Pritzker launched and funded the abortion rights nonprofit Think Big America, which targets ballot measures in other states as part of a broader campaign "combating far-right extremism".

Immigration

Pritzker supports Syrian refugees, and criticized the

first Trump administration Donald Trump's first tenure as the president of the United States began on January 20, 2017, when Trump First inauguration of Donald Trump, was inaugurated as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president, and ended on January ...

and Rauner for "turning a blind eye on them". He also supports enhancing funding for immigrant and refugee services, increasing health care options for undocumented immigrants, improving the U-Visa certification process for victims of violent crimes, and providing access to financial aid for undocumented students such as

DACA Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the cou ...

recipients. He has said he would sign the "Illinois Trust Act", a pro-immigration bill. In January 2025, when asked about the mass deportation of illegal immigrants in the second presidency of Donald Trump, Pritzker spoke in favor of deporting convicted criminals who are undocumented, but criticized the targeting of "law-abiding residents" who are integrated into communities.

Gaza war

In February 2024, Pritzker criticized the Gaza ceasefire resolution passed by Chicago Mayor

Brandon Johnson Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American politician and educator who is currently serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Johnson previously served on the C ...

and rejected calls for a permanent ceasefire in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

LGBTQ rights

Pritzker has been a longtime advocate of

LGBTQ rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Nota ...

, and has actively participated in the

Chicago Gay Pride Parade The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, is an annual pride parade held on the last Sunday of June in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is co ...

. As part of his 2018 gubernatorial race, he said his administration would address anti-LGBT hate crimes, expand LGBT access to health care, and oppose any anti-LGBT legislation.

Cannabis

Pritzker supports expanding the state's medical marijuana program and legalizing recreational

cannabis in Illinois Cannabis is legal in Illinois for both medical and recreational use. Illinois became the eleventh state in the US to legalize recreational marijuana effective January 1, 2020. With the passage of the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Ac ...

. In June 2019, he signed the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act into law, which effectively legalized the possession and regulated sale of marijuana for recreational purposes starting in 2020.

Minimum wage

As a candidate for governor, Pritzker campaigned on raising the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

in Illinois to $15 an hour. He enacted a plan to do so, raising the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour on January 1, 2020, and then to $10 an hour on July 1 of that year. The minimum wage has risen by $1 per hour each year on January 1. It was $15 as of January 1, 2025.

Net neutrality

Pritzker supports

net neutrality Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...

, and wrote on his gubernatorial campaign website: "As governor, I will ensure that all internet traffic is treated equally, so that everyone can continue to use the internet to grow their businesses, further their education, and enjoy the freedom of expression."

Alliance of governors

In November 2024, Pritzker and other U.S. state governors established an alliance to protect their interests against anticipated changes in the federal government.

Philanthropy

Through the Pritzker Family Foundation, Pritzker has funded research and programs focused on children in poverty. Under the leadership of economist

James Heckman James Joseph Heckman (born April 19, 1944) is an American economist and Nobel laureate who serves as the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, where he is also a professor at the college, a pro ...

, he supported the creation of the Pritzker Consortium on Early Childhood Development at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. With the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, the Irving Harris Foundation, and the

George Kaiser George Bruce Kaiser (born July 29, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman of BOK Financial Corporation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As of September 2021, he is the 476th richest person in the world and was, in 2012, one of th ...

Family Foundation, the Pritzker Family Foundation is a founding supporter of the First Five Years Fund, an organization focusing nationwide attention and resources on comprehensive, quality early care and learning programs for children from birth to age five. In 2013, Pritzker worked with

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

to fund the first-ever

social impact bond A social impact bond (SIB), also known as pay-for-success financing, pay-for-success bond (US), social benefit bond (Australia), pay-for-benefit bond (Australia), social outcomes contract (UK), social impact partnership (Europe), social impact ...

for early childhood education. As chairman of the

Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash and Ohio rivers to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-large ...

, which opened in 2009, Pritzker led the capital campaign and planning to build an international institution in the Midwest dedicated to teaching the lessons of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and other genocides. He is the principal funder of Cambodia Tribunal Monitor, the most significant online source for news and commentaries on the international criminal tribunal created to bring to justice the perpetrators of

Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...

-era acts of genocide. He chaired the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and was succeeded by former White House counsel and federal judge

. In 2013, Pritzker received the Survivors' Legacy Award for his leadership in the creation of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. In 2007, Pritzker and his wife donated $5 million to the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...

to build the Theodore R. and Karen K. Muenster University Center in honor of his wife's parents. In 2011, Milton Academy dedicated the Pritzker Science Center for which Pritzker provided the lead gift. Pritzker is a trustee and serves on the investment committee of Northwestern University. He is a member of the Board of Governors of Northwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the

Commercial Club of Chicago The Commercial Club of Chicago is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) social welfare organization founded in 1877 with a mission to promote the social and economic vitality of the metropolitan area of Chicago. History The Commercial Club was founded in 187 ...

. He joined the Duke University Board of Trustees in 2017; his term expires in 2023. On October 22, 2015, Northwestern University School of Law announced that Pritzker and his wife, M. K. Pritzker, had made a $100 million gift to the school in honor of Pritzker's great-grandfather, Nicholas J. Pritzker. The 156-year-old school was renamed the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Pritzker received the Spirit of

Erikson Institute Erikson Institute is a graduate school in child development in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is named for the noted psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson. History and mission The Institute was founded in 1966 by four chi ...

Award for his creation of the Children's Initiative. The

Better Government Association The Better Government Association (BGA) is a Chicago-based investigative journalism non-profit organization. History The BGA was established in 1923 to increase voter participation in Chicago elections, and was originally intended to serve as a ...

, an Illinois

watchdog Watchdog or watch dog may refer to: Animals *Guard dog, a dog that barks to alert its owners of an intruder's presence * Portuguese Watchdog, Cão de Castro Laboreiro, a dog breed * Moscow Watchdog, a breed of dog that was bred in the Soviet U ...

, has criticized Pritzker's charitable giving practices, saying he funneled the funds he gave to charity from offshore tax havens. "The result is that Pritzker's philanthropy, and any accolades that go with it, have been bankrolled with what is essentially found money. He did little to earn the proceeds and paid no taxes on the bulk of it before giving it away", the BGA wrote.

Public image

Supporters

Pritzker has gained support from

progressives Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human so ...

and

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

for his stances on healthcare, education, raising the

, legalizing

recreational marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, and expanding access to healthcare. His administration has been considered one of the most progressive in the United States.

Opposition

The vast majority of opposition to Pritzker comes from Republicans and conservatives, who oppose his views on gun restrictions and abortion. Pritzker's gubernatorial election results in

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

were less successful than those of

or Glenn Poshard. Some left-wing activists have also criticized Pritzker for his unclear stance on

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...

and lack of action on minority issues.

Social media and memes

On X (formerly

), there are numerous accounts such as "Socialists for Pritzker", "Nomadic Warriors for Pritzker", "Frat Bros for Pritzker", and "Anarchists for Pritzker". The Socialists for Pritzker account has over 13,000 followers. The accounts have been described as semi-ironic. Pritzker has said the attention is "entertaining, if a little strange" and that he keeps up with several of the accounts. Nomadic Warriors for Pritzker has dubbed Pritzker the "Great Khan of the Midwest" and mapped out battle plans for a

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

-inspired military campaign across the nation. The group of accounts, dubbed the "Pritzker Pals," launched a website,

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

bigboy.com, with the goal of influencing Vice President

to pick Pritzker as her running mate in the

2024 presidential election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

. A TikTok account called "Pritzker Memes" garnered 20,000 followers. Some of the memes are about Pritzker's size, with one political commentator saying, "He is enormous, doesn't come off as particularly intellectual, and has good instincts". Pritzker launched his own beer brand, "JBeers", ahead of the

2024 Democratic National Convention The 2024 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention in which delegates of the Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party voted on their party ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He also named Malört the DNC's "unofficial shot". On February 7, 2025, Pritzker posted a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

video to his personal twitter account announcing Illinois's annexation of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the renaming of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

to "Lake Illinois". The video followed President

's announcement that the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

had been renamed the "Gulf of America."

Personal life

In 1993, Pritzker married Mary Kathryn "M. K." Muenster, whom he had met in Washington, D.C., when she worked as an aide to U.S. Senator

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who represented South Dakota in the United States Senate from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he led the Senate Democratic Caucus during the ...

. She is one of three children of Theodore and Karen Muenster. Her father unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. They live in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood with their two children. They also reside in the Illinois Governor's Mansion in Springfield. During the 2018 campaign, the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' reported that Pritzker had intentionally caused a mansion he had purchased next door to his home to become uninhabitable by removing its toilets. He then appealed his original property tax assessment because the newly built property was uninhabitable; the

assessor reduced the home's value from $6.25 million to about $1.1 million, which granted Pritzker an 83% property tax reduction, equal to about $230,000 per annum. The Cook County inspector general accused Pritzker of a scheme to defraud the county. Pritzker called the controversy a political attack and stressed that the county regulations had been followed, but paid the county treasurer $330,000 to reimburse the amount of the property tax reduction. Federal authorities later opened an investigation into the matter. According to ''

'', in 2024 Pritzker had an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion.

Electoral history

References

External links

Governor JB Pritzker
official government website
JB for Governor
campaign website * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritzker, J. B. 1965 births 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American philanthropists American billionaires American gun control activists American LGBTQ rights activists American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American venture capitalists Businesspeople from Chicago Democratic Party governors of Illinois Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Illinois Democrats Illinois lawyers Jewish state governors of the United States Jewish American people in Illinois politics Jews from Illinois Living people Milton Academy alumni Northwestern University alumni Philanthropists from Illinois J.B.

Early life, family, and education

Business career

Early political career

Work as D.C. staffer

1998 congressional campaign

State and national politics

Governor of Illinois (since 2019)

Elections

2018

2022

Cabinet

2019–20 fiscal year

Abortion legislation

Cannabis

Child welfare and education

Climate change

COVID-19 pandemic

Criminal justice and law enforcement

Gambling

Gun control

Health care

Immigration

Infrastructure

Labor

LGBT rights

National politics

Taxation

Tobacco

Public employee pensions

Voting rights

Welfare

Approval rating

Political positions

Environmental issues

Gun control

Abortion

Immigration

Gaza war

LGBTQ rights

Cannabis

Minimum wage

Net neutrality

Alliance of governors

Philanthropy

Public image

Supporters

Opposition

Social media and memes

Personal life

Electoral history

See also

References

External links