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New poll: 50.2% of Illinois voters view Pritzker unfavorably

Posted in Clown Car, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Economy, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Fat Man Walking, Girlie man, Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, The Center Square, Unions on August 8, 2025| 2 Comments »

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker | BlueRoomStream

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

A new poll shows that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s approval rating has flipped negative for the first time.

The Illinois Policy Institute’s newest Lincoln Poll conducted by M3 Strategies July 15-18 found that 50.2% of likely voters in 2026 view the governor unfavorably and 47.2% view Pritzker favorably.

M3 surveyed 752 individuals and reported a +/- 3.57 percentage point margin of error.

The previous Lincoln Poll in late January showed a slim majority of Illinois voters approving of Pritzker’s job performance.

Illinois Policy Institute Senior Fellow and former Illinois state Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, said he would have advised Pritzker not to run for a third term.

“Third terms are often called the third-term curse, number one. Number two, running a general election for governor doesn’t match with running in a far-left Democratic primary for president,” Batinick told The Center Square.

Batinick said he predicted months ago that the governor’s poll numbers would drop.

“The stuff that he’s trying to do to go to the far left to be relevant in the Democratic primary for president is costing him with rank-and-file voters here in Illinois. They’re like, ‘You know what? I’ve got a high property tax bill. I don’t care about Texas legislators. I want you back in Illinois doing the things that matter to us.’ When you look at that poll, taxes was the number one issue,” Batinick said.

Read more here.

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First look: 2025 Illinois State Fair butter cow(s) unveiled

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Elections, Entertainment, Fat Bastard, Mad Cows, Springfield, Topics Of Interest on August 7, 2025| 1 Comment »

Gov. JB Pritzker and wife MK unveil the 2025 Illinois State Fair butter cow on Wednesday, Aug. 6, in Springfield. | Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki

By Jerry Nowicki | Capitol News Illinois 

State officials ushered in the start of the Illinois State Fair on Wednesday with the annual unveiling of the butter cow.

The sculpture is made of 800 pounds of unsalted butter spread across a wire frame. This year’s iteration depicts a cow accompanied by an “adventurer seeking hidden treasure across the fairgrounds.” The theme for this year’s fair is “Adventure Awaits.”

“Indeed, this year will be chock full of adventures and treasures for the entire family. Music and entertainment, food and drinks, rides and contests, exhibits and displays, concerts. There will be an opportunity for everyone to experience, to learn, to grow, and we’re again proud to be able to present that not just to Illinoisans who come here to Springfield to enjoy themselves, but also to people who come from around the country, to see what Illinois has to offer,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

The butter is “recycled,” meaning it is reused each year, rather than discarded. It was sculpted once again by Iowan Sarah Pratt.

The cow – the 104th in state history – will remain on display in the Dairy Building throughout the fair. Gates will officially open at 7 a.m. Thursday, with the annual Twilight Parade scheduled for 5: 30 p.m. later that day. The fair runs through Aug.  17 from 7 a.m. until midnight each day.

More here.

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State government salaries have grown 57% faster than private sector since 2021

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Policy Institute, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Springfield, The Chicago Way, Unions on July 30, 2025| 1 Comment »

State employees represented by AFSCME Council 31 received an automatic annual raise on July 1, highlighting the salary discrepancy between government and private sector workers.

By Mailee Smith and Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Institute

It pays to be a state employee in Illinois.

July brought “pay raise day” for the tens of thousands of state employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31.

But it’s also the month which emphasizes the salary discrepancy between government workers and every other worker in Illinois.

Since 2021, state government worker salaries have grown 57% faster than pay for workers in the private sector.

As of 2024, the average Illinois state employee made $85,689 compared to an average of $78,267 in the private sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Survey of Employment and Wages data. That’s a $7,422, or 9.5%, difference.

The July 2025 raise was just part of a total 19.28% pay hike agreed to by Gov. J.B. Pritzker when he approved the state’s contract with AFSCME Council 31 in 2023. The agreement provides an automatic raise of 2.5% to 4.0% for each year of the contract. Compounded annually, that’s 19.28%.

No matter what happens to the economy and the private sector, the state is committed under the contract to raises that outpace what other workers are earning. Between 2023 and 2026, these AFSCME raises are expected to outpace private sector raises by 51%.

Read more here.

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Pritzker: 2% support in potential presidential candidate poll – Wirepoints Quickpoint

Posted in Clown Car, ComEd Four, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Dinky, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Taxes, The Chicago Way, Uncategorized, Unions, Wirepoints on July 1, 2025| 1 Comment »

By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner | Wirepoints

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has pursued some of the nation’s most progressive policies while in office and he now claims Illinois is the “most progressive state” in the country. He’s right. Just look at what he’s managed to get passed in his 6.5 years. No cash bail. Constitutionally-enshrined government union powers. The elimination of school choice. An “assault rifle” ban. Utility-bill-busting green energy goals. The “most LGBTQ+ friendly” education policies. The Midwest’s abortion capital.

Pritzker is so confident in his policies that he’s gunning even further left to try and win the Democratic primary for president. Just listen to his speeches at Equality Illinois and in New Hampshire, where he all but announced his candidacy.

But few seem to be biting. At least that’s what the latest Emerson College Polling data says. Among the wide list of potential presidential candidates for Democratic primary voters to choose from, Pritzker ranked near the bottom with only 2% support.

And despite all his efforts and “investment” in diversity, equity and inclusion, his support among black primary voters hit just 1%.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Blame Pritzker’s numbers on a lack of name recognition, but his near-zero support is not from a lack of trying. He hosted the DNC. He launched the 2028 presidential cycle with his New Hampshire speech. And he’s spent Think Big millions in other states like Ohio and Wisconsin – all in an attempt to garner national attention.

More here.

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Pritzker’s latest gas tax hikes greets Independence Day travelers

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on June 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Just in time for Independence Day travel, drivers will face Illinois’ latest gasoline tax hike. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has added 29 cents per gallon since 2019 – costing the average driver $143 more per year.

By Rich Witzel | Illinois Policy Institute

Independence Day travel is expected to set a record in Illinois, with 4.2 million total travelers and most of them – 3.86 million – hitting the roads.

That makes Gov. J.B. Pritzker happy: his latest gas tax hike to 48.3 cents per gallon hits July 1. The holiday travel will translate into $3.82 million in state gas taxes, based on U.S. averages for fuel efficiency and holiday mileage.

That is, if drivers buy their gas in Illinois. Buying gas in Wisconsin or Iowa would save about 50 cents a gallon. Missouri gas was 64 cents cheaper and Indiana 22 cents cheaper heading into the holiday travel period.

The difference is taxes, with Illinois charging the nation’s second-highest rate.

Pritzker doubled the state gas tax from 19 cents in 2019 and set an automatic annual inflation adjustment so state lawmakers would no longer be held responsible for the unpopular tax hikes. With the July 1 hike, motorists are paying 29 cents a gallon more than before Pritzker’s boost to support his $45 billion infrastructure bill.

Each year, Pritzker’s gas tax hike costs drivers $143 more than they paid before he imposed it.

More here.

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July 1 starts Illinois laws on gender-inclusiveness, climate education, prostitution privacy

Posted in Barrington Education Association, Commodius Maximus, Dinky, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Girlie man, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, RINO, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on June 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Climate change education, gender inclusiveness, birth certificates, prostitution privacy, court translators and insulin costs all received attention from the Illinois General Assembly. Laws involving them take effect July 1. Plus, the state gasoline tax goes up.

By Lilly Rossi | Illinois Policy Institute

July 1 is when spending starts on Illinois’ record $55.2 billion budget, when the state gas tax automatically goes up to 48.3 cents a gallon and when new laws take effect – some passed as long ago as 2023.

Here are nine laws passed by the 103rd Illinois General Assembly impacting gender, birth certificates for those under guardianship and for fetal deaths, climate change education, insulin costs, assisted living, overdose survival, court translators and prostitution records. All nine go into effect July 1.

Gender data, birth certificates

House Bill 2297 will have state agencies collect and report gender-inclusive data.

Starting July 1, “male and female” categories will be removed. To conform with gender inclusive initiatives, state agencies will collect and report data for  “man, woman, and persons who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming” categories.

House Bill 4727 will waive fees for a new birth certificate or for a search for a birth record for those with a guardian.

Requests made by the Office of the State Guardian to the Office of the State Registrar of Vital Records in Springfield will have fees waived beginning July 1.

Senate Bill 3182 will allow parents to receive a certificate of birth following a spontaneous fetal death during or after a 20-week gestational period.

According to Liam’s law, if a stillbirth of a fetus occurs during or after 20 gestational weeks, parents have the right to receive a certificate of birth for their child. The law going into effect on July 1 will also replace “mother” with “patient.”

Read more here.

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JB Pritzker officially announces re-election campaign for Illinois governor

Posted in Clown Car, ComEd Four, Commodius Maximus, Deception, Dinky, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Fat Man Walking, Fox News, Girlie man, Illinois State Board of Elections, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Overhead, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, Unions on June 26, 2025| 1 Comment »

By FOX 32 Digital Staff

The Brief

  • Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday he’s running for a third term, highlighting gains in fiscal stability, abortion access, and worker protections.
  • He launched his campaign with a statewide tour and a video contrasting Illinois’ progress with Washington’s dysfunction.
  • Pritzker, seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, may need a new running mate as Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton runs for U.S. Senate.

CHICAGO – Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday that he will run for a third term, pledging to build on the economic and social progress his administration has made since taking office in 2019.

Pritzker, 60, launched his campaign with a video titled “Keep Illinois Moving Forward,” positioning the state’s gains under his leadership — from balanced budgets to abortion access — as a stark contrast to what he called “chaos in Washington.”

“These days, Illinois is standing at the center of the fight: the fight to make life more affordable, the fight to protect our freedoms, the fight for common sense,” Pritzker said in a statement. “We don’t just talk about problems. In Illinois, we solve them. Because we know government ought to stand up for working families and be a force for good, not a weapon of revenge.

Pritzker begins his re-election push with a two-day tour across the state that includes stops in Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Belleville, and West Frankfort.

Illinois does not impose term limits on governors. The last governor to serve three terms was Republican Jim Thompson, who held office from 1977 to 1991.

More here.

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State agrees to pay $1.3M for never-built migrant tent encampment despite Gov. JB Pritzker’s assurances

Posted in Chicago Tribune, Commodius Maximus, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes, The Chicago Way, Unions on June 10, 2025| 1 Comment »

Signs proclaiming environmental hazards are posted on a fence as the tent encampment for migrants in constructed in the Brighton Park neighborhood, Nov. 29, 2023. | E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune

By Dan Petrella | Chicago Tribune

Despite assurances from Gov. JB Pritzker that state taxpayers would not end up footing the bill for a migrant tent encampment in Chicago that was never built, the state recently agreed to pay $1.3 million to the project’s contractor.

Pritzker made the highly publicized decision to halt construction of the shelter encampment in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood in December 2023, saying “serious environmental concerns” were still present at the city-selected site. The governor’s decision caused the Brighton Park project to be scrapped, and it signaled an early political rift between the governor and Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was pushing for the shelter to be built as winter arrived and the migrant crisis in the city continued.

Pritzker that month also made public assurances that the project’s state contractor, GardaWorld Federal Services, would absorb the costs of the work that it had already put into constructing the camp.

“The understanding with GardaWorld is that they will do other work with us,” Pritzker told reporters at an unrelated event in December 2023. “And they knew, as they were building this shelter, before the environmental report came in, that it was possible that the environmental report wouldn’t allow the building — the completion, rather — of the shelter. And so they understood that, and they were willing to take that liability on through the state’s contract.”

Officials with Pritzker’s office also said the company had agreed not to charge the state if the land was deemed unsafe.

But a $1.3 million payment to GardaWorld was tucked into the recently approved $55 billion state spending plan being sent to Pritzker’s desk. And Pritzker’s Illinois Department of Human Services, which spearheaded the state’s portion of the migrant response, agreed this April to settle a dispute with GardaWorld over payment for its work at the site, other state records show.

Read more here.

Related: “More than 1,200 beds from McCormick Place COVID-19 temporary hospital go unused amid immigrant housing crisis,” “McCormick Place hospital’s cost to taxpayers?” “Now-closed McCormick Place COVID-19 hospital cost taxpayers $15M to staff, run”

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5 things Illinois taxpayers are lucky state lawmakers failed to pass

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Illinois Policy Institute, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Springfield, Taxes on June 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois lawmakers got creative with state budget proposals to overhaul pensions and raise new revenue, many of which would have hit consumers and small businesses hardest. They also failed to intrude on how families choose to educate their children.

By Dylan Sharkey and Charlotte Rotkis | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois lawmakers passed a $55.2 billion budget with record spending, and some tax hikes and fund abuses, but they had five much-worse options they considered that taxpayers should be thankful failed.

Chicago area residents were the biggest winners because they had the most to lose. The lawmaker ideas that died included:

  • Hiking tolls.
  • Expanding sales taxes to services.
  • Taxing home deliveries and digital ads.
  • Expanding pensions for state workers hired since 2010.
  • Regulating homeschools and collecting personal info on private school families.

Toll hikes

Lawmakers originally proposed a 50-cent toll road hike, capped at $1 per vehicle per day, a 10% tax on ride-sharing services and electric-vehicle charging fees. Illinoisans already pay more than $6 billion in transportation taxes and fees. Reversing the population drain to attract more people to live and drive in the state would be a simple way to get more revenue rather than asking existing Illinoisans for more.

Service sales tax expansion

Illinoisans avoided a $2.7 billion proposal expanding the state’s sales tax to services. That would have applied Illinois’ 6.25% statewide sales tax to services such as:

  • Streaming services including Netflix and Spotify.
  • Rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft.
  • Haircuts.
  • Gym memberships.
  • Car washes and car repair.
  • Plumbing.
  • Electrical repairs.
  • Landscaping.

Read more here.

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Is a Billionaire Hotel Heir the Answer to Democrats’ Working-Class Problem?

Posted in Commodius Maximus, Economy, Elections, Ethics, Fat Bastard, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Taxes, Unions on May 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker waits to speak during a Democratic National Convention security briefing at the U.S. Secret Service’s Chicago Field Office, in Chicago, July 25, 2024.

By Jesus Mesa | Newsweek

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt hotel empire, has the kind of profile that seems destined to ignite debate in today’s Democratic Party. He’s rich—very rich, to the tune of nearly $4 billion. But he’s also big—in stature, yes, but also in rhetoric.

In recent months, Pritzker has emerged as one of the loudest, most full-throated voices opposing President Donald Trump‘s second term, even as his own party wrestles with how to handle the contradictions of populist rage and patrician leadership.

Pritzker’s growing national footprint comes at a moment of reckoning for Democrats. His speeches are forceful, his money is bottomless, and his policy platform leans unapologetically liberal. But can a billionaire—especially one born into wealth—really be the champion of a party that’s spent the last decade railing against economic oligarchy?

Newsweek reached out to Pritzker’s office with an interview request for this story.

A Progressive in a Billionaire’s Clothing

In the wake of Joe Biden‘s exit and Kamala Harris‘s defeat in 2024, Pritzker has stepped forward. And not subtly.

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption—but I am now,” Pritzker boomed in a fiery New Hampshire speech this spring. “Democrats must castigate [Republicans] on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box,” he added.

The 60-year-old governor has drawn comparisons to Franklin D. Roosevelt, another blue blood who governed as a populist and railed against entrenched economic power. “Take it from an actual billionaire—Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity,” Pritzker said at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, drawing a roar from the crowd. It’s a line he’s repeated since, aiming his considerable fortune and influence squarely at the president.

Newsweek’s interview continues here.

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