Govs. Pritzker, Stitt discuss ways to reduce divide in politics
[July 28, 2026]
By Sean Reed | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined multiple
politicians from around the country Monday at the National Conference of
State Legislatures for a discussion on political violence and toning
down political rhetoric.
Illinois state Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, is the current NCSL
president and began the event alongside Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel
“Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon.
Pritzker appeared on the conference’s opening panel alongside Republican
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Pennsylvania Democratic House Speaker Joanna
McClinton, and Republican Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman.
The conversation began on the topic of passing budgets, especially as
it's become increasingly rare to do so in Springfield without raising
taxes, as is similar in many legislatures across the country.
“I need to hearken back to 2019 because I have to say it's gotten harder
and harder over the years,” Pritzker said. “It does start with just
recognizing that the people that you're talking to, that are on the
other side of the aisle, have families, are decent people who genuinely
want to do good things for the state and for the country.”
Pritzker didn’t discuss the conversations of passage of the most recent
FY 2027 budget, nearly all of which excluded Republican lawmakers from
most conversations, at least publicly.
McClinton discussed the high tension surrounding the recent passage of a
state budget in Pennsylvania, which came days after its July 30 deadline
within the nearly split legislature.
McClinton also discussed a recent time lawmakers nearly got violent on
the floor of her chamber..
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“There was a debate on the floor of our house in Harrisburg where we
were making an effort to change the way automatic guns are converted
to be weapons of war,” McClinton said. “One of our colleagues gave a
speech and started talking about the Second Amendment from a
different perspective. And before that colleague finished his
speech, a member of the minority party stood up, lurched at him as
if to say ‘we're about to fight.’”
When asked about a lesson he’s learned from his time in office,
Pritzker said he feels it’s important to be a representative of
every constituent he represents – not just the ones who voted for
him, referring to President Donald Trump
“There is a history often of just rewarding the parts of the state
or the people who you think voted for you and we've got it
unfortunately in the White House. I think that's happening right now
where he's only remembering the people that voted for him and
forgetting that we have a whole country here that we've got to work
on improving and lifting everybody up,” Pritzker said.
The governor from Oklahoma mostly agreed with Pritzker.
“But also I've learned that some people are going to complain if
their ice cream's too cold. You can't make everybody happy. So
you've got to do your job and we want our elected leaders to do
their job, represent the state the best they can and then go for big
things,” Stitt said.
The panel members broadly agreed in their opinion that there is an
importance to state government that the federal government can’t
fill.
The bipartisan conference of lawmakers and staff continues through
Wednesday, and includes panels on how legislatures can and are
handling major issues like tariff impacts, data centers, prediction
markets and more.
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