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
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