August 11, 2023

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House,

103rd General Assembly:

Today, after considering the public policy implications brought forward by advocates and metropolitan planning organizations, I am issuing an amendatory veto of House Bill 2878 from the 103rd General Assembly. The bill is the product of months of hard work by staff, contains positive developments to address procurement issues, and includes many items important to stakeholders, including my Administration. Unfortunately, the bill also extends the authority for public private partnerships (P3s) in Illinois from the Department of Transportation and Tollway to also include counties, municipalities, and any other unit of local government, while not providing proper oversight.

As written, the bill creates a pathway for private industry to enter P3 agreements locally that skirts transparency and anti-corruption requirements established in state statute, including ethics, BEP, campaign finance, and procurement laws. The potential in this bill for opacity and corruption is too great.

In addition, the bill as written puts the state at greater risk of project failure because it decreases competition and reduces the opportunity for public input into project planning and implementation currently required for other P3 developments under state law.

I appreciate the hard work of the House and Senate sponsors and hope that the General Assembly will accept my amendatory veto so the rest of the bill can become law.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 2878, entitled “PROCUREMENT MINED-LAND,” with the following specific recommendations for change:

On page 117,  delete “, and” in line 8 and delete everything before the period in line 9.

With this change, House Bill 2878 will have my approval. I respectfully request your acceptance.

Sincerely,                                                                                                             

JB Pritzker

Governor, State of Illinois