* Press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and leaders from across the Metro East region to break ground on a new grocery store in Venice as part of the Illinois Grocery Initiative—marking an important milestone in expanding access to fresh, affordable food for local residents. Today’s groundbreaking represents a critical joint effort to revitalize the city, which was made possible through a $2.4 million state grant and private funding. […]

The initiative consists of two key grant programs—the New Stores in Food Deserts Program and the Equipment Upgrades Grant Program. To date, DCEO has awarded a total of $18.1 million statewide, which includes $16.5 million for new grocery stores and $1.6 million for equipment upgrades.

In addition to state grant support, Venice’s new grocery store benefited from a $3.5 million investment from Dr. Ed Hightower. Hightower, a retired Edwardsville public school superintendent and former NCAA Basketball referee, has generated significant momentum behind his vision of a reinvigorated Venice.

The state program’s basic outline…

• Providing support for existing grocery stores by offering grant funding for energy-efficient equipment upgrades
• Awarding grants to establish new grocery stores in food deserts, including funding for building and renovation efforts, equipment, and first-year operational expenses
• Offering technical assistance to prospective applicants and grantees, such as business planning, marketing, financing, supply chain management, and workforce development assistance
• Expanding tax incentive eligibility to grocers, including exemption from taxes on utilities and building materials

* Pressed on this direct government intervention in the private sector, Pritzker said…

I don’t disagree with you that sometimes government doesn’t do it as well as the private sector. But I also believe that government has to do some things to help the private sector be successful.

For example the private sector doesn’t build your roads. The private sector isn’t building the facilities that help us deliver well for people who really need it, right, the most vulnerable in our society. The private sector doesn’t do that. And the public sector can do something important, which is, again, reduce risk so that people can be successful in the private sector. So that’s my belief. And I’m a you know, I’m a capitalist. I’m somebody who was in business before I became governor. I’m not a believer that government should do everything. But there are some things government has to do and if it’s our responsibility in government, we have to deliver it.

* Also from the press conference…

Q: I know you said that your plan here in Venice is different in structure than the one that [New York City mayor-elect] Zohran Mamdani has proposed. But surely you must see some similarities in government support of trying to feed hungry people. So I wonder, what do you think the election says about the direction of the Democratic Party?

Pritzker: Look, let’s be clear, all of the elections last night, Democrats swept. And there is one principle reason that they won. Maybe I should say two, but the biggest one is they talked about affordability, and didn’t just talk about it. They actually acted upon it, proposed things and are getting things done. And I really am proud of that fact. I think that is what the Democratic Party is all about, delivering for the people. And here in Illinois, we’ve been doing that. I’ve been doing that for the last seven years.

I also think it says something about Donald Trump, about the fact that Donald Trump has raised prices on everything when he promised to lower prices. And that Donald Trump is sweeping up black and brown people just because of how they look, and testing ‘Are you a US citizen? Are you here legally?’ just because they’re a different color than Donald Trump is.

So my view, we’ve got to do everything we can to push back on a president who’s doing those kinds of things. And I think the people of the United States, people in all the states that were holding votes last night, showed up and pushed back.

You shouldn’t read too much into off-year elections like yesterday’s. The electoral makeup is different in those elections than in presidential years and even midterms. But, even saying all that, yesterday was a sound thumping in just about every demographic. No getting around it.

And the results may very well change the national news media coverage dynamic. Those folks pay special attention to where they choose to live. And many of them live in or near New York, New Jersey, Virginia and California.