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 After more than three years in office, Gov. J.B.
Pritzker’s 2019 promise of separating his personal fortune from state
contractors has not aged well.
A Better Government Association investigation found Pritzker’s blind trust
contains a dozen companies that obtained more than $20 billion in state
contracts since 2019.
Insurance giant Centene Corp. has the biggest state contracts of any company in
the trust. Since 2019, a Centene subsidiary was paid $20.6 billion for state
Medicaid contracts and health initiatives.
They also pay five lobbying firms specifically for Pritzker, and three
additional firms to lobby Pritzker’s staff and state agencies such as the
Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Before taking office in 2019, Pritzker promised to cut financial ties to state
contractors and place his other stocks in a blind trust.
“Governor-elect Pritzker is divesting his personally held direct interests in
companies that have contracts that are wholly or partially funded with state
dollars,” said attorney Marc Elias in 2019, who advised Pritzker at the time.
The BGA requested information such as Pritzker’s tax returns or a copy of the
blind trust agreement, but Pritzker’s staff and campaign office refused. They
also won’t say when he bought any stocks or the purchase prices.
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After the BGA published a similar report in February, Pritzker denied any
knowledge or decision making in handling his trust.
“I’ve divorced myself entirely from making investments, knowing anything about
the investments, the amount of investments, etc.,” Pritzker said Feb. 28.
He also noted Centene had government contracts before he took office, which is
true. However, Pritzker didn’t disclose his stake in Centene until May 3, 2021.
The BGA distributed its findings to multiple law and ethics professors such as
Bridget J. Crawford of Pace University’s law school.
“The term ‘blind trust’ is being used here as a thin shield to conceal the
governor’s pursuit of personal profits,” Crawford said. “This is not a blind
trust in any meaningful sense of the phrase.”
Pritzker pledged any profits from companies with state contracts would be
donated to charity. He has yet to disclose any charitable donations of those
profits since taking office. Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Natalie Edelstein
said there will be a full accounting disclosure after he leaves office.
With a $3.6 billion fortune, Pritzker is the wealthiest politician in the
nation. His net worth has increased by more than 12% since becoming governor,
according to Forbes. A blind trust is intended to keep politicians clueless
about their investments, not keep the public in the dark.
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