He’s not the DIY governor, but J.B. Pritzker could be called the FIH — Fund It Himself — governor.
In the year that Pritzker has been in office, the billionaire Illinois governor has bankrolled improvements and renovations at several state buildings, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So far, Prizker has written checks to bankroll upgrades at the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield, the Hayes House governor’s residence in Du Quoin, the State Capitol, and offices at the 1.2 million-square-foot James R. Thompson Center, according to the Chicago Tribune. The state has been trying to sell the iconic Thompson Center in Chicago.
The governor has also spent his own money to give his aides pay raises among other things, totaling $3 million, according to the Tribune report. Some of the private funding is not subject to open records laws so the practice brings up several concerns for taxpayers, according to the report.
Among the items, $850,000 of Pritzker’s fortune went to renovate the Governor’s Mansion. Updates included repairing tile on the floor and renovating bedrooms and bathrooms.
A Pritzker spokesperson told the Tribune that the governor “believes in the state of Illinois and its people are worth investing in.” [Tribune] — Jacqueline Flynn