Governor JB Pritzker
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- 43ND GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS
- SWORN IN: JANUARY 14, 2019
- SECOND TERM
- NEXT ELECTION: NOVEMBER 2026
Illinois Governor News Feed
- The IDVA Offers Public Service Announcements for September National Suicide Prevention Month July 25, 2024Chicago, IL - September is National Suicide Prevention Month when IDVA raises awareness of veteran suicide and its prevention. The USDVA reports that 22 veterans die of suicide each day, 71.8 % higher than for non-veteran U.S. adults.
- Jobs Growth Up, Unchanged in Most Metro Areas in June July 25, 2024SPRINGFIELD - Over-the-year, total nonfarm jobs increased in five metropolitan areas, decreased in six, and was unchanged or nearly unchanged in three for the year ending June 2024, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES).
Governor JB Pritzker was sworn in as the 43rd Governor of Illinois on Jan. 14, 2019. Since taking office, he has accomplished one of the most ambitious and consequential policy agendas in state history.
The governor won bipartisan passage for Rebuild Illinois, the largest investment in state history to upgrade roads, bridges, rail, broadband, and schools. He overcame years of fiscal mismanagement in Illinois by proposing and passing a balanced budget every year, eliminating the state’s multi-billion dollar bill backlog, reducing the state’s pension liability, and achieving six credit upgrades from rating agencies. He took bold action to put state government back on the side of working families by creating jobs, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, protecting reproductive rights, making university and community college education more affordable, and advancing equal pay for women.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Pritzker saved lives and livelihoods by prioritizing the health and safety of Illinois residents while supporting families and businesses through the COVID-induced recession. To protect hardworking families from additional hardship, one of the defining features of the governor’s response to the COVID financial crisis was launching the nation’s largest pandemic relief grant program for small businesses and the nation’s largest housing assistance program.
In 2021, Governor Pritzker proposed and signed a comprehensive clean energy bill, making Illinois a national leader on climate action and the first state in the Midwest to pass a law phasing out fossil fuels.
Before becoming governor, Pritzker founded 1871, the non-profit small business incubator in Chicago. Since its creation, Chicago has been named one of the top ten technology startup hubs in the world, and 1871 was named the best incubator in the world. As governor, he continues to expand support for new business creation throughout the state and cut taxes for hundreds of thousands of small businesses while incentivizing job creation. Since 2019, annual new business startups in Illinois have grown by nearly 70%. Illinois now has the largest growth in small business creation among the largest states in the nation, beating states like California, Texas, Florida and New York.
Governor Pritzker and his wife, MK, have been married for more than 25 years, and they are the proud parents of daughter, Teddi, and son, Don.