Gov. JB Pritzker painted a picture of a state under siege. Last fall, Chicago and its surrounding suburbs were occupied by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol agents, many unmasked and, as he highlighted, unaccountable with little training. Pritzker detailed how these agents brutalized everyday people, teargassed kids and police, kidnapped parents in front of their children, detained and arrested citizens and immigrants alike, and even killed 38-year-old Silverio Villegas González.
“Illinois was the canary in the coal mine for what we saw happen in Minnesota,” Pritzker told the audience Wednesday at his State of the State and fiscal year 2027 Budget Address. He likened President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller’s authoritarian deportation strategy to President Grover Cleveland federalizing troops against Illinoisans during the Pullman Strike of 1894.
“If the president can, at his pleasure, send troops into any city, town or hamlet, whenever and wherever, under the pretense of enforcing some law, his judgment — which means his pleasure, being the sole criterion — then there can be no difference whatever, in this respect, between the powers of the president and those of the czar of Russia,” Pritzker said.
Then there’s the judicial theater.
Pritzker noted Trump’s White House has taken $8.4 billion from the people of Illinois since the regime took office a second time. Illinois, the governor said, is fighting more than 50 cases in court because the federal government has illegally confiscated money appropriated by the U.S. Congress.
“Donald Trump is taking resources away that are rightfully ours. None of us, Democrats or Republicans, should be O.K. with that,” Pritzker said. “If you want to talk about our FY 2027 budget, you must first demand the return of all the money and resources this president has taken from the people of Illinois.”
Pritzker, who has openly flirted with his White House aspirations, quickly pivoted to his braggadocious businessman side, firing off the state’s economic achievements: He listed off the stats: the state’s GDP has surpassed $1.2 trillion; Illinois is among the top 20 economies in the world, ranked No. 2 in the nation for corporate expansions and relocations here; the Illinois Department of Commerce and Illinois Economic Development Corporation attracted a record-setting amount of investment across all Illinois regions; and Illinois ranks fourth nationally for college graduates seeing a return on investment in their education.
“While Donald Trump says it’s a hell hole here, 113 million domestic and international visitors still flock to Illinois, spending a record $48.5 billion, driving an all-time high in hotel tax revenue and restoring O’Hare as the busiest airport in the nation.”
Pritzker painted a poetic vision of a bruised-but-unbeaten Illinois.
But what about Black people?
Besides a moment of silence for the late Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, who passed away on Tuesday, and a mention of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Black History Month, Pritzker didn’t explicitly talk about revitalizing Black neighborhoods in Chicago or across the state that have been in a historic state of disrepair.
“Black folks in Illinois, unfortunately, are disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health,” whose definition includes social conditions like economic stability and education access, State Rep. Justin Slaughter told The TRiiBE following Pritzker’s address. “There is no genre of policy in which we are not seeing disparities.”
“This is a budget that’s made up of billions of dollars, right?” said Slaughter, a member of the Illinois Black Caucus, which has outlined its budget priorities in four pillars. “There’s money there, and what we know is that we’re still struggling with a lot of challenges in Black communities throughout the state.
“So while we take a posture of collaboration with the governor,” he said, “we also want to be very, very intentional that we have to prioritize crucial programs and services and resources and initiatives to impact our communities.”
BEFORE PRITZKER’S ADDRESS
Ahead of Pritzker’s address, dozens of Black and brown organizers from Equity and Transformation (E.A.T.) and other Illinois-based community organizations packed out the Rotunda in the state capitol. Also roaming the halls were businesspeople and lobbyists hoping to get movement on their plans back in Chicago.
Willie J.R. Fleming, co-founder and director of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign, said Black people should care about what’s going on in Springfield. He traveled down to advocate for the Chicago Community Land Trust and to support E.A.T., which is trying to get the Illinois Future Fund (IFF) bill passed this session.
“I tell people all the time, the way money works in America, it comes from the federal level to the state level, and then it hits the city,” Fleming said. “It’s at the state level where they decide where it goes in the city, and if we’re not down here advocating, lobbying and pushing for money to come to our community, it is going to continue to miss us.”
Asked what he’s looking for Pritzker to do for the Black community, Fleming said, “When the state said it was going to double down and help the migrants, I wanted to see them double down and help Black folks: I make no apologies for that.”
Fleming continued, “I want to see them increase funding for the Black community so we can remove the division between the Black community and the migrants, and the only way to do that is to show the Black folks equal funding before he can have aspirations of running for president of a whole country.”
Passing the Illinois Future Fund is one way to start. The fund is a cash-assistance program that would be funded by the state’s cannabis tax revenue, if passed. The fund is designed to protect low-income Illinoisans from Trump administration’s cuts and eligibility changes to SNAP and repair harm to communities affected by the war on drugs that began in the 1970s.
“There’s some programs in Illinois that you need to fix, especially cannabis,” Fleming said. Pritzker “needs to show more equity in the disbursement of tax revenue to the communities hit the hardest by the war on drugs. That’s the Black community.”
According to E.A.T., if passed, the fund would make Illinois the nation’s first statewide guaranteed income program, following Cook County’s approval for the nation’s first countywide program this past fall. State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-8) introduced the bill and attended E.A.T.’s press conference in the capitol’s Rotunda Wednesday.
“We have been waiting for them to finally right the wrongs of the cannabis tax legislation,” said E.A.T. Program Director Alonzo Waheed. “There was a promise that individuals who were impacted by the war on drugs would be compensated. We’re saying that right now we could do that.”
The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act was signed into law in 2019 by Pritzker. The law legalized recreational cannabis and included provisions designed to repair the harm caused by the war on drugs by expunging criminal records, including cannabis-related offenses, and offer a social equity program, while investing in historically disinvested communities.
“We are talking about providing $500 a month using cannabis tax revenue. This is a promise that was made in 2018,” said Richard Wallace, executive director of E.A.T. “This was the first recreational cannabis policy to incorporate reparations for the war on drugs.”
Wallace added that the concept and practice of reparations includes five pillars: rehabilitation, restitution, compensation, a guarantee of non-repetition and satisfaction.
“We’re here today to demand that the state of Illinois do exactly what they said they were going to do in 2019 and 2020, with HB1438, and give the money to the people. Trust the people to do what they need to do for themselves,” Wallace said.
Ford is the lead House sponsor of the Illinois Future Fund bill, also known as House Bill 4443.
“The federal administration has shown at every turn that it won’t hesitate to harm the poorest people amongst us. We cannot show hesitation as we move to help people in Illinois, and that’s why the Illinois Future Fund puts the state’s funds where it will be most helpful and useful in the hands of people,” Ford said.
If approved, the fund would use money from the state’s Restore, Reinvest, Renew (R3) program to provide $500 monthly cash payments to SNAP-eligible people living in R3 zones. R3 zones are areas where residents have historically been excluded from economic opportunities.
Tanya D. Woods, the executive director of the Westside Justice Center, also attended the presser. She said Black people need to care about Springfield, especially under the Trump regime, because of the federal cuts to programs and resources that benefit the Black community.
“Gov. Pritzker called the budget a moral document, meaning that where you put your money is a representation of where your values lie and what you believe to be important,” Woods said. “So we’re looking for what’s going on in healthcare. We’re looking for what’s happening in transportation. We certainly want to know what’s going on in legal services because that’s an issue that’s been very important to us as of late, especially with the passage of the Clean Slate Act.”
Pritzker recently signed the Clean Slate Act to streamline expungement and record sealing statewide, helping millions of Illinois residents hindered by past arrest and conviction records. There’s another bill on deck called Home for Good, a $103 million proposed statewide investment in re-entry housing. Ahmadou Dramé, director of the Illinois Justice Project, told The TRiiBE last spring the pathway toward making this a reality is to include it in the state budget
Woods said: “We have so many reentering citizens that need relief from their criminal records. We have so many people that still need housing, jobs and workforce development. I’m looking for evidence of those things.”
AFTER PRITZKER’S ADDRESS
Following Pritzker’s budget address, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, composed of 12 senators and 22 representatives, responded to Pritzker’s budget proposal and outlined their budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.
Sen. Lakesia Collins (D-5th) touted the progress the Black Caucus made during last year’s budget, including a commitment to reducing crime in Chicago and investments in community hospitals on the South and West sides. The Black Caucus wants to build on those investments.
Collins also cited fiscal year 2026 investments in K-12 education, early childhood development, workforce development, job training and youth employment as “meaningful progress toward stabilizing Illinois finances while still prioritizing communities.”
The Black Caucus centers its legislative priorities on four pillars: criminal justice, education, economic access, equity, opportunity and health care and human services.
At the same time, not all Black caucus members think Pritzker’s budget is enough.
Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-4th) talked about longstanding gaps and lack of investment in education in Black communities across the state.
“We all know that our state universities are failing,” Lightford said. “We know that they have a deficit spin. We know that it’s not equitable, it’s not adequate with how funding is distributed, and we know that we bear the brunt of all of those negative things that happen in that space.”
Lightford added that state public universities such as Western Illinois University, Eastern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University are on the brink of closing. In his address, Pritzker proposed creating a vocational training grant program to support building and expanding specialized workforce programs.
Sen. Robert Peters (D-13), a staunch criminal justice advocate, noted Pritzker’s proposed investments in violence prevention, pretrial services and trauma-informed practices were a starting point but are looking for more investment. Pritzker proposes $111 million to maintain gun violence reduction efforts.
“We moved from a system that said, ‘Lock them up, and throw away the key,’ to saying, ‘We are not going to incarcerate people simply because they’re poor. We’re not going to incarcerate young people simply because they’re young and we’re scared,’” Peters said.
Rep. Sonya Harper (D-6th) said she appreciated that Pritzker’s address highlighted the state’s stronger credit rating, balanced budget and investments in school and medical debt relief. She said those are important wins, but questioned when Black communities statewide would feel the positive impact of the economy improving.
“I represent Black communities that are still asking a simple question. When does this recovery truly reach us? We hear about a trillion-dollar state economy, record corporate relocations and big investments in energy and infrastructure,” Harper said. “We hear about the new build housing plan, nuclear expansion and clean energy projects, yet too many Black neighborhoods still don’t have a full-service grocery store. They still don’t have stable, living wage jobs and still don’t see serious investments on their blocks.”
Some people were talking while the presser was going on, and State Sen. Lakesia Collins (D-5th) grabbed the mic to do a reset, a sentiment that goes beyond the state capitol:
“This is your house indeed, but how do you know what’s going on if you’re not listening? Collins asked the crowd. “ We’re still fighting for freaking equity. That’s problematic in 2026.”
