Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday cast doubt on his ambitious housing program passing in the short fall legislative session but indicated optimism about legislation to regulate data centers and support a new Bears stadium to be located in the suburbs or even stay in Chicago.
The Democratic governor’s comments on several policy priorities came less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, in which he is seeking a third term against Republican Darren Bailey. Lawmakers will return to Springfield after the election for the fall veto session to try to pass a number of laws they couldn’t get over the finish line in the spring. The governor made his comments after a news conference celebrating state and Cook County programs that have canceled $2.4 billion in residents’ medical debt.
The governor’s housing package, which he’s called BUILD, or Building Up Illinois Developments, would broadly allow multifamily homes on many lots zoned for single-family residences. It stalled in the spring amid pushback from city and village leaders deeply concerned about four-flats or accessory dwelling units going up on quiet cul-de-sacs.
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“I don’t know that we’ll see that,” Pritzker said, when asked whether the proposal could be considered during the veto session. “I do believe that you’re going to see that in the coming full session, starting in January.”
A higher-profile item that fell short in the spring session remains in play: legislation to give the Bears incentives to stay in Illinois rather than move to Indiana, where the state’s Republican-led government is courting the team to move to the Hammond area.
Pritzker earlier this week said he expected lawmakers to act on the issue during the veto session, which runs Nov. 17-19 and Dec. 1-3, and that separate proposals approved this spring, one in the House and the other in the Senate, remain on the table.
Legislation under discussion would leave open the possibility of a stadium in either Chicago or Arlington Heights, Pritzker reiterated Thursday, repeating a point he made earlier this week.
“The legislation that is being discussed now would give the option for the possibility that there would be a stadium built in the city or in Arlington Heights, and that’s a decision the Bears get to make,” Pritzker said. “They’re a private company, and that way they have the option — we want to keep them in the state of Illinois. If we give them those two options, I think that would be satisfactory.”
Since Pritzker and legislative leaders met on Oct. 1 with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Pat Ryan, a billionaire businessman and minority owner of the Bears, Pritzker said he has not had any similar “comprehensive … executive meetings,” but has continued conversations about potential stadium legislation.
On data center regulation, Pritzker said disagreements remain over legislation under consideration but said he hoped such a bill could pass in the veto session.
Pritzker has previously called on the General Assembly to pass the so-called POWER Act, for Protecting Our Water, Energy, and Ratepayers. It would hold data centers responsible for energy costs and environmental protections, though he has stopped short of calling for a total moratorium in Illinois on data center construction.
During the Thursday news conference, Pritzker, who is widely seen as a potential candidate for the 2028 presidential Democratic nomination, said he would push for medical debt relief nationally, though he added that he felt such a program shouldn’t have to exist. He said he recommended the program to former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris during their presidential campaigns.
Pritzker touted the debt cancellation as a win for healthcare affordability. But unlike some other prominent progressives, including his own lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, who is the Democratic nominee to the U.S. Senate, Pritzker has not made “Medicare for All” a signature policy pitch.
Asked Thursday for his take on Medicare for All, Pritzker said he is open to multiple avenues of achieving “universal health care,” including that option, a single-payer system or a system that offers both public and private coverage.
“I literally believe that no one should be able to — should go without a doctor if they’re sick, ever,” Pritzker said. “We need a system that makes that available to everybody, and I don’t want to say there’s only one that would work. I think there are a couple of them, and that’s why you haven’t heard me sort of call for only one.”