Kane County Reporter

State Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) has called out Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) for breaking a promise he made to purge his portfolio of companies that do business with the state. 

Wheeler's criticism came after the Better Government Association (BGA) recently reported the billionaire governor's blind trust bought stock in health insurance giant Centene Corp. in 2020.

"When he was elected Governor, JB Pritzker made a pledge that he would purge his personal portfolio of any companies that do business with the state," Wheeler wrote in a Feb. 28 Facebook post. "The Governor has broken yet another promise to the people of Illinois by investing his personal fortune in one of our state's biggest medicaid contractors."

According to the BGA, Centene is one of Illinois' biggest Medicaid contractors. BGA noted, "the investment in Centene — which collected more than $2.6 billion from state Medicaid contracts in the first half of 2021 alone – demonstrates the pitfalls of a blind-trust arrangement that still leaves the nation's richest governor open to potential conflicts of interest." The BGA also noted that Pritzker and managers of the blind trust wouldn't specify how much the investment in Centene is worth and when the stock purchases were made. 

Fox 32 Chicago reported that Pritzker's lawyer responded to the BGA report, in part, "his blind trust is just that: blind. He receives no information regarding potential investments. He has no knowledge of the trust's current assets. To suggest otherwise is potentially libelous."

J.B. Pritzker has a net worth of $3.6 billion, according to Forbes, making him the richest politician in the United States. He also is one of 11 billionaires in the Pritzker family. Forbes pointed out that Pritzker's uncle founded Hyatt Hotels and his father managed the chain. His sister is also a billionaire and served as commerce secretary for four years under President Barack Obama.