Pritzker’s spring wins come with caveats as BUILD, megaprojects bills
stall
[June 10, 2026]
By Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — Over his 7½ years in office, Gov. JB Pritzker has largely
gotten his way in the Democratic-supermajority Illinois General
Assembly.
As he campaigns for a third term as Illinois’ chief executive and weighs
a possible 2028 Democratic presidential bid, Pritzker emerged from the
spring legislative session once again achieving many but not all the
goals he laid out in his State of the State address in February.
But there were some high-profile caveats that underscored the limits of
his clout among his fellow Democrats who run the state legislature.
The governor was unable to muscle through the most far-reaching elements
of his top legislative initiative: Building Up Illinois Developments, or
BUILD — a comprehensive plan to spur homebuilding and drive down housing
costs.
And he didn’t land the plane on a long-sought megaprojects bill that
would have enabled the Chicago Bears to negotiate and lock in a lower
property tax payment on a stadium in Arlington Heights. Its failure
could result in the Monsters of the Midway hiking across the Indiana
state line to a former industrial site near Wolf Lake in Hammond.
Lawmakers also failed to approve a pause Pritzker sought in the state’s
data center tax credit, leading the governor to take executive action to
freeze the program.
Asked during a news conference after the session adjourned why some of
his high-profile initiatives stalled in the General Assembly this
spring, Pritzker argued that major policy wins often take years to
materialize.
“I’ve proposed bills that may not have passed this session, but
remember: A whole lot of things, and in fact, I made a list for myself
so I could remind you all, a whole lot of things that were important
take years to get done,” Pritzker said, proceeding to list his policy
wins.
Indeed, many of the governor’s policy achievements this session were
multi-year efforts, from granting the state more regulatory power to
review homeowners’ and auto insurance rates to bans on junk fees and
students’ use of cellphones in the classroom.
And Pritzker said what’s past will be prologue, promising to keep
fighting for BUILD and a solution that results in the Bears building
their new stadium in Illinois.
“Absolutely, I’m going to be campaigning on this,” Pritzker said of
BUILD. “So, yes, it’s a political issue. I believe that we need to do
even more about housing in this state.”
BUILD falters
There was no initiative Pritzker fought harder for this year than BUILD.
He promoted the plan on his social media accounts nearly every week,
penned op-eds, hosted roundtables and appeared in social media videos
with real estate influencers, among several methods.
His political operation also boosted the “yes in my backyard” plan in a
paid advertising campaign on social media platforms, a tactic that
highlighted the Pritzker campaign’s belief that it would be good
politics on top of good policy.
“Oh no, I mean, are you kidding me?” Pritzker said when asked if BUILD
would be an election-year liability for him. “The question is, do you
want to elect somebody who’s actually for building more housing or
somebody who doesn’t have any plan at all?”
But the merits of the centerpiece policies of BUILD fell on deaf ears in
Springfield.
Perhaps most controversial was a proposed statewide zoning law that
would have permitted multi-unit housing by right on nearly all
properties zoned for residential use. The aim was to spur the
development of more “middle housing” such as two-flats, townhomes and
fourplexes.
The plan also called for the legalization of accessory dwelling units on
all land zoned for residential use and establishing statewide timelines
for inspections and reviews and allowing third-party inspectors if
municipalities miss deadlines.
The plan was supported by the state’s real estate industry but fiercely
opposed by the Illinois Municipal League, the organization representing
the state’s cities and villages.
The Illinois AFL-CIO also opposed the proposals, especially the
third-party review component. The statewide labor organization viewed it
as a “nonstarter” because it would allow work traditionally performed by
government employees — often unionized workers — to be outsourced.
As they poured through hours of testimony on the BUILD plan in hearings
this spring, a bipartisan cadre of state lawmakers, many products of
municipal government, expressed concerns about the preemption of local
control and the one-size-fits-all nature of the proposal. Many said they
hoped for a more collaborative approach, including input from local
government leaders.
“I applaud the governor’s office for making an attempt,” said Sen.
Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, who chairs the Senate Executive Committee,
during a hearing in the waning days of spring session. “And I mean it
genuinely because I think there’s a lot of people in this room that want
to solve this problem and see a holistic approach to it. But I also feel
like we have to work together.”
That said, BUILD wasn’t a total bust. Pritzker secured $250 million in
capital funding for grant programs that assist housing developers with
sewer, stormwater, utility and other site prep work; fund middle housing
development, and provide down payment and closing cost assistance to
those who have faced institutional barriers to home ownership.
It was the least controversial aspect of the program, not touching
delicate topics like local zoning control or replacing unionized labor.
Megaprojects falters
Pritzker’s desire to add a megaprojects mechanism to the state’s
economic development toolkit long predates the Bears’ pursuit of a domed
stadium in Arlington Heights. He’s often noted that 38 other states have
some form of negotiated property tax payment for large developments.
But on the penultimate day of the spring session, Sen. Bill Cunningham,
D-Chicago, delivered the bad news: The megaprojects concept, a version
of which passed the House in April, did not have enough support to pass
the Senate.
The immediate focus was on the Bears, who announced last week that their
board of directors “voted to advance” a stadium development in Hammond,
Indiana.
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Flanked by state legislative leaders, Gov. JB Pritzker highlights
accomplishment from the spring session. (Capitol News Illinois photo
by Jenna Schweikert)
But the governor, a former businessman who’s fashioned himself as the
state’s chief marketing officer, warned that Illinois is “behind the
curve” on the broader issue.
“They’ve always been negotiating about property taxes all across the
country,” Pritzker said of large developments. “It’s just in Illinois
where we have had a disorganized, dysfunctional endeavor forever, and
now we’re trying to organize it and make it work, so that businesses
will want to come.”
But the prospects of the tool being resurrected appear grim.
Undoubtedly, there were Bears-specific concerns with the bill. But the
statewide deployment of the tool, the potential impact it would have on
revenue to local governments, and the property tax burden on surrounding
residents and businesses may have done more to sink the bill.
And unlike BUILD, Pritzker took a more hands-off approach to
megaprojects, putting together the “scaffolding of a deal” as he told
reporters in April. But, a few weeks later in the waning days of the
spring session, Pritzker said the bill was “in the legislature’s hands.”
In their hands, it died. Cunningham said the common sentiment in the
Senate was that the megaprojects tool “further breaks an already broken
property tax system.”
On the flip side of the coin, Sen. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett, said Pritzker
“did not show the Bears organization any sense of urgency or desire that
lawmakers want to keep one of this state’s top economic engines in
Illinois.”
“During this process we saw a complete lack of leadership by the
governor, and if the Bears do indeed move to Indiana, it is a
devastating loss, both economically and emotionally, that the Governor
will own,” he said.
Other losses
Beyond BUILD and megaprojects, Pritzker also came up short once again in
his effort to allow some community colleges to offer four-year
baccalaureate degrees.
Lawmakers also rejected Pritzker’s proposal to reduce the percentage of
income taxes local governments receive from the Local Government
Distributive Fund flat. Instead, the share remains the same and, because
of increased income tax receipts, LGDF will increase this budget year.
And lawmakers did not take up legislation reforming the state’s data
center policies despite Pritzker’s urging. A specific proposal, House
Bill 5513, known as the POWER Act, would have required data centers to
pay for and supply their own renewable energy, track and report water
usage and enter community benefits agreements with municipalities.
But the advocates behind the bill accused the governor’s office of
failing to engage on the issue, which never received a floor vote.
As a result, Pritzker unilaterally directed the state’s Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity to pause all new state tax incentives
for data centers “while we continue working with the General Assembly
and stakeholders on a comprehensive framework that protects
affordability, safeguards our natural resources, and ensures responsible
growth across Illinois.”
From 2020-24, there were 27 data centers that benefited by more than
$983 million in promised tax relief from these incentives, according to
a state report.
“These complex legislative issues take time, and I do think we’re going
to eventually get there,” said House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch,
D-Hillside. “And when we get there, it’s going to be done right.”
Legislative wins
But Pritzker didn’t strike out this legislative session. In fact, the
governor got much of what he asked for.
A two-year effort to ban junk fees — the charges added to the total
cost of ticketed events, hotels, tech and other goods and services —
finally bore fruit this session.
The bill, which would make it unlawful for any business to advertise,
display or offer a price for goods or services that do not include all
mandatory fees or surcharges before taxes, now just needs Pritzker’s
signature.
And after falling short last year on one of the centerpieces of his 2025
State of the State address, Pritzker last month secured legislative
approval of a ban on students using cellphones during class time.
And after stalling in last year’s fall session, legislation giving the
state’s Department of Insurance authority to regulate premiums for
homeowners and auto insurance got the green light. Pritzker first called
for the homeowners insurance bill last summer after Bloomington-based
State Farm Insurance, one of the largest homeowners’ carriers in the
nation, announced a 27.2% average rate increase across the state.
The governor was also successful in pushing a pair of social media
initiatives. One would impose a tax on social media companies based on
the number of users the platform has in Illinois. Another would require
social media companies to verify a child’s age on the device’s operating
system and use stricter features for minors like limiting
location-sharing and nighttime notifications.
The state’s fiscal year 2027 spending plan also largely matches the
blueprint Pritzker outlined in February, including raising revenue
through the social media tax and lowering the cap on corporate net
operating loss deductions for business. But it avoided incorporating
more far-reaching revenue proposals pitched by progressives.
Programs championed by Pritzker, including the Dolly Parton Imagination
Library and the Illinois Medical Debt Relief Program, also continued to
be funded.
Lawmakers also authorized the two-year extension of the state’s pension
buyout program. Though created during Gov. Bruce Rauner’s tenure,
Pritzker has supported its extension three times now. Thus far, about $2
billion buyout payments have resulted in about a $2.6 billion reduction
in the state’s long-term pension liabilities.
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