Gov. JB Pritzker says a proposed corporate head tax would “penalize” business growth in Chicago. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson proposed reviving the city’s head tax as part of his 2026 budget proposal last week. The tax would charge businesses with at least 100 workers entirely or primarily based in Chicago a fee of $21 per employee per month.   

The proposal quickly gained opposition from business groups and some alderpeople, who say it would stunt business development in the city.  

Read more: Large business groups come out against mayor’s head tax proposal, while CTU praises ‘transformative’ plan 

During a fireside chat with the Economic Club of Chicago Tuesday, Pritzker agreed with the critics.   

“It penalizes the very thing that we want, which is more employment in the city of Chicago,” he said. “It makes it very hard to attract companies from outside of Chicago to come into Chicago, and harder for companies that are in Chicago to stay.”  

Pritzker said Illinois has a “bad reputation” due to its previous low credit rating and two-year budget impasse.  

“I've spent six and a half years trying to turn that reputation around, balance our budgets, attract businesses, create incentives for business, cut taxes, do everything that I could possibly do to attract new businesses and to keep businesses here, not just here, but growing here,” he said.  

The city is facing a nearly $1.2 billion deficit, which Johnson’s proposal would close. Pritzker said closing that deficit is essential, especially because of Chicago’s impact on the state, but said a head tax is not the way to do it.  

Pritzker defended signing a pension sweetener that provides better benefits for Chicago police but could cost the city of Chicago billions over the next couple of decades.   

He said the officers deserve to receive the benefits they were promised.  

“They do an unbelievably hard job, and they deserve it,” he said. “It was not a sweetener. It was something that they were owed.”  

He also noted the bill passed the Illinois House and Senate with veto- proof majorities.  

With the second week of veto session next week, Pritzker said he’s calling on lawmakers to pass public transit reform and funding.  

The anticipated deficit for 2026 has been delayed to the end of that year, but advocates have said passing the measure in veto session is essential for future success of Chicago-are transit. Pritzker said they have demanded the transit agencies find efficiencies, but the agencies will need additional resources.   

“Somebody's got to pay. We all have to pay for that,” he said. “The riders have to pay. We want something great for this area, for this region and for the rest of the state.”  

He said the measure needs to include additional funding for downstate transit agencies.  

Pritzker did not have any updates on the Bears’ Arlington Heights stadium, again saying he is not supportive of using any state dollars to help fund the project.   

He noted a recent sale of a minority stake in the team, which was valued at $8.9 billion, according to CNBC. That would represent substantial growth for the Bears, who were valued at $6.4 billion last year, and would make them the seventh- most valuable football team.  

Pritzker said he views the Bears as any other private company, and the state will look to support them as such.   

“We help them with infrastructure,” he said. “We help them in a lot of different ways. And I'm for that. We should help private businesses and public businesses grow in the state of Illinois. What I'm not for is that we're responsible for building your factory, or we're responsible for building your new headquarters.”  

He also noted that he would still like them to remain in Chicago.  

Pritzker said he has talked to the Democratic National Convention about the event returning to Chicago in 2028.  

The 2024 convention brought approximately 50,000 visitors to the city, according to Choose Chicago. The convention produced $371.4 million in economic development, creating 3,211 jobs and $28.7 million in state and local tax revenues.  

As for if he’ll be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2028, all Pritzker had to say was "I'm running for governor of Illinois.”  

Pritzker responds to Noem criticism, calls on businesses and universities to “stand up” against Trump 

After Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem accused Pritzker and the media of “trying to demonize” immigration officers, Pritzker defended his track record with law enforcement.  

“I do not believe in defunding the police,” Pritzker said. “I'm somebody who has built the police. Our state police are stronger and larger today than they were when I took office.”  

He accused Noem of breaking the law with ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Illinois, which have drawn protests and lawsuits.  

“She's never trained at all for the job that she's doing today,” Pritzker said. “She was governor of South Dakota. I think that's a respectable background for a lot of things, but not for Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. So, I honestly don't take any of her criticism seriously at all.”  

The president has asked nine universities to sign the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, which includes provisions such as barring transgender people from playing in sports or using the bathroom that aligns with their identities and limiting international student enrollment. None of the universities are in Illinois.  

Many businesses such as Apple, Microsoft and Meta have met with the president to promise investment in the United States in fields such as artificial intelligence.  

Pritzker said he understood why some businesses and universities might want to cut deals with the administration but urged them not to.  

“I'm saying people need to stand up,” he said. “This is the moment for people to stand up. I do not understand why people will give in when their rights are being taken away for some extra cash.”