Illinois highlights under JB Pritzker (all sarcasm intended).
- Boeing: Moved its global headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia.
- Caterpillar: Relocated its corporate headquarters from the Chicago area to Irving, Texas.
- Citadel: Transferred its financial headquarters and moved its billionaire founder to Miami, Florida (though maintaining a Chicago presence).
- Tyson Foods: Relocated some corporate operations and shifted team members out of the state.TTX Company: Moved its headquarters from Chicago to Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Morton Salt: Relocated its headquarters and operations from Chicago to Kansas.
- SC Johnson: Transitioned over 150 corporate roles from downtown Chicago to its headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin.
The fiscal 2027 budget does not solve Illinois’ underlying structural problems. The core issue is that the state’s revenue base is not growing fast enough to support its spending commitments, and much of the new revenue has come from tax hikes and fund sweeps rather than sustained economic growth.
Addressing that revenue imbalance will require moves including restraining spending growth and strengthening the private economy.
During Gov JB Pritzkers tenure I believe most will find this concerning. Illinois has allocated an estimated $2.5 billion to $2.84 billion in state funding for immigrant and asylum-seeker services. Over the last few fiscal years, this has primarily funded the “Welcoming with Dignity” initiative, shelter housing, resettlement services, and the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults/Seniors programs.
Conversely Illinois does not have a single, monolithic pool of veterans funding, but rather allocates capital across multiple state-level programs, grants, and higher education waivers. The disparity is alarming!
Specific funding programs include:Education Grants:
- The FY26 state budget includes $6 million to reimburse public universities and $4.2 million for community colleges to waive tuition and fees for qualified veterans.
- Veterans Cash Grants: Net proceeds from the Veterans Scratch-Off Lottery tickets are dispersed quarterly as competitive grants.
- Organizations receive between $25,000 and $100,000 annually to help veterans with housing, employment, and mental health.
- Military Family Relief Fund: Used to financially assist families of deployed service members, this fund has historically authorized over $15.4 million since its inception.
Governor JB Pritzker’s administration is navigating state fiscal pressures driven by a projected $267 million deficit for the fiscal year 2026 and a significantly larger $2.2 billion budget gap projected for fiscal year 2027. Fiscal Year 2027 Projections, looking ahead to the $56 billion budget, the state faces a $2.2 billion gap. This is driven by ballooning pension obligations, mandatory medical costs, and severe uncertainty surrounding federal funding and potential changes to federal programs. Source: WTTW News
Addressing that revenue imbalance will require moves including restraining spending growth and strengthening the private economy.
- Economic under performance: Illinois’ real GDP has grown 7.9% since 2019, compared with 17.6% nationally, placing the state 46th among 50 states.
- Unemployment: Illinois ended 2025 with nearly 302,000 unemployed residents, while the state’s April 2026 unemployment rate was 5.1%, one of the highest in the country.
- Residents leaving: Illinois has lost a net 1.6 million people to domestic out migration since 2000, trailing only California and New York. Roughly half of Illinois counties have lost population, and despite the influx from international migration, Chicago’s population is at its lowest level in a century.
- Losing young, wealthy people: In 2022, Illinois ranked second in the loss of people 26 to 35 earning over $200,000 and third among ages 35 to 45 at that income level.
Source: Illinois Policy
Higher taxes and endless regulations are pushing companies to more business minded states. When big business leaves Illinois the jobs, paychecks the result is the corresponding state taxes and revenue move with these companies.
Illinois is currently facing a projected budget deficit. For the fiscal year, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) projects a shortfall of approximately $267 million, with estimates indicating it could grow to a $2.2 billion deficit for the next fiscal year.
Source: Capitol News Illinois
The Chicago Bears have never received a sweeping tax release or massive public subsidy from the State of Illinois. Unlike other major NFL markets, the state has consistently maintained a firm stance against using direct taxpayer funds to build a privately-owned stadium.
While the Bears currently play at the publicly-owned Soldier Field in Chicago (which is managed by the Chicago Park District), this arrangement is a lease agreement rather than a state tax release. The stadium underwent a major $587 million renovation in 2003, and the team remains responsible for paying off remaining debt obligations from that project if the lease agreement is not fulfilled.
The Chicago Bears generate an estimated $8 million to $15 million annually in direct state-level tax revenue for Illinois through player income and state sales taxes. Team-driven economic activity from game tickets generates approximately $32.5 million per year in broader state taxes.
While the statewide budget impact is modest, the team generates substantial local spending. Example, the new stadium the Bear desire to build in Arlington Heights is anticipated to produce an overall state economic impact of up to $1.3 billion per year over its lifetime. This projection is based on a domed stadium that would produce revenue year-round.
The facility and campus will be used as a multi-purpose entertainment venue offering a climate-controlled atmosphere with flexible on field strategies maximizing revenue by accommodating concerts, large-scale trade shows, motorsports and other sporting events. All this would result in additional sales and amusement tax revenues for state and local jurisdictions and let’s not forget to mention the thousands of year-round jobs the venue and surrounding campus would offer the state of Illinois. Guess what, additional jobs, additional state and federal tax revenue.
Three years this project has stagnated under Gov. JB Pritzker and it’s looking more likely that the Bears will look at out of state options. If you pay attention, you will see that during Gov. JB Pritzker tenure as our Governor we have lost revenue from several major corporations, our spending has increased, our deficit grows, the jobless rate remains one of the highest in the country, up slightly in 2026. Currently Illinois ranks among the top 5 to 6 states with the highest unemployment rates nationally.
And now he is letting another revenue stream linger and possibly leave the state.
Why do we continue to place JB Pritzker in office?