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* AP…
Illinois Governor-Elect JB Pritzker met with President Trump Thursday at the White House.
Trump welcomed governors-elect from both parties to the White House. Among the other governors were Florida Republican Ron DeSantis, Georgia Republican Brian Kemp, Wisconsin Democrat Tony Evers and newly inaugurated Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican.
White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Doug Hoelscher had said they’d be discussing “shared priorities,” including workforce investment, prison reform and combating the opioid epidemic.
The visitors also met with Cabinet members as part of a broader White House outreach effort to local officials.
* Transcript of public quotes…
PRITZKER: Mr. President, I’m JB Pritzker, the governor-elect of Illinois, and I founded 1871, which is the- well named this year the world’s best business incubator, and as I’ve been speaking with your daughter, I’ve also been a national advocate for early childhood education.
TRUMP: Very good, great to see you.
* NBC 5…
“He seemed to be in a good mood and was welcoming to all of the governors,” Pritzker said. “We had a good conversation about the issues that were important to us.” […]
Since the election, Pritzker has said that he will work with members of both parties, Democrat and Republican, to bring more federal dollars to the state of Illinois, and that includes President Trump.
“I was glad to go to Washington to advocate for the people of Illinois,” he said. “We need to bring more federal dollars to Illinois, and I had the opportunity to advocate for infrastructure, and he expressed his desire to get a bill passed as well.”
* Lynn Sweet…
Afterward, I caught up with Pritzker as he was leaving the White House and one of my first questions to him as we stood on a chilly Pennsylvania Avenue is why after all his Trump bashing he bothered to make the day trip.
The answer is that Pritzker, switching from campaigning to governing, has the luxury and necessity now to be practical and see how he can use his perch to get more federal dollars to Illinois. […]
“Well, I had an opportunity to express to both of them and to the president and the vice president how important it is that we pass an infrastructure bill for the states, and they agreed. And then I especially focused on the formula, which is very important to get an infrastructure bill that works for the states. We need to go back to an 80/20 formula,” Pritzker said, a reference to the state having to come up with a 20 percent match in order to collect the federal funds.
“…The other topic that we talked about and that I advocated for was help with the Asian Carp problem in the Great Lakes. As you can imagine, we have the governor of Michigan there, the governor of Wisconsin was there, the governor of Ohio was there. We’re all affected by this crisis.
“The president didn’t seem to know anything about it. But he was very interested in helping and said that he would speak with the Army Corps of Engineers and work with our states to make sure that we’re addressing the problem.”
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 9:36 am
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= switching from campaigning to governing =
As Rich might say, “more of this please”.
Comment by cover Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 9:42 am
A governor being practical? What kind of blasphemy is this?
Comment by Fixer Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 9:50 am
If ya wanna solve the Asian carp problem contact anybody but the USACE.
Comment by Blue Dog Dem Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 9:52 am
The quote from Sweet shows JB has a grasp of the job already. Find common ground where you can. Don’t treat the other guy as an enemy.
Comment by DuPage Dave Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 9:52 am
Smart move for JB to reference Trump’s daughter. Trump responds best to accolades for his family.
Comment by Just Me 2 Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:05 am
JB impressed me more each day. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to actually get things done in this state and for the good of the state. I actually feel a twinge if optimism
Comment by DuPage Saint Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:08 am
I knew JB was a big supporter of Illinois agriculture. Not even officially on the job and the guy is trying to bring home the bacon.
Comment by Blue Dog Dem Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:11 am
Great move by JB to focus on practical issues. And bot let campaigning get in the way of governing.
Being from Southern IL along the Mighty Mississippi, how encouraging to hear our “liberal” and “Chicago” governor discuss the problem with bighead carp and other invasive species like zebra mussels.
That is a serious crisis for our area. Trump not knowing about it doesn’t surprise me, but putting it in his head may get some kind of results.
I think we can go a long way to healing the “Chicago vs Downstate” divide(which shouldn’t exist.)
Thanks for a positive article.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:13 am
“The president didn’t seem to know anything about it. But he was very interested in helping and said that he would speak with the Army Corps of Engineers and work with our states to make sure that we’re addressing the problem.”
Not a knock on JB because this is basically what he has to do, but come on.
Comment by LXB Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:15 am
A “No-Drama” governor who understands and wants to do the real gig would be just swell.
The dude sure is comfortable in his own skin. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for a Dem guv to play to his base and take some shots at Trump on the White House lawn.
But that would have only advanced his own self-interest, and would be of no benefit for the gig he was elected to do.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:24 am
JB was right to go, but I can’t see Trump taking any steps to help Illinois. Trump takes every slight extremely personally, and JB’s comments were an attack. Trump knows he can never win in Illinois so it was very unlikely he would ever do anything for the state. He’d free Blago before he helps JB.
Comment by SSL Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:29 am
Keep it about delivering for Illinois.
It’s time to think “governing”
Keep doing what you’re doing.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:30 am
“Well, I had an opportunity to express to both of them and to the president and the vice president how important it is that we pass an infrastructure bill for the states, and they agreed“
That’s the practical and correct way, to try to work past political and personal hatred for the betterment of the state. And he got an agreement.
A great politician will try to masterfully blend politics and governing, like backing off attacks when things need to get done. Rauner was like a bull in a china shop. It was the opposite of mastery and competence.
Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:39 am
= Trump knows he can never win in Illinois so it was very unlikely he would ever do anything for the state. =
There are plenty of folks in Wisconsin and Michigan who would be negatively affected by the Asian carp in Lake Michigan as well, this is not just an Illinois problem. Then again, I’m not sure there is much that Trump can do at this point to change anyone’s mind about him.
Comment by cover Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 10:43 am
I suppose he had to go but does he really think he will get anything out of Trump? JB is for immigration reform, Trump wants to build a wall, JB is for environmental issues, Trump thinks they are a hoax, etc.,etc.
Comment by The Colossus of Roads Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 11:25 am
Sometimes good enough is good enough.
And under the circumstances, this was good enough.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 11:26 am
Maybe he was really listening way back then. Many moons ago a young college -age JB Pritsker spent time interning and learning the ins and out of Illinois state government. He was assigned to me for a couple of weeks. I’m proud of him.
Comment by kimocat Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 12:52 pm
For a guy who seemed frustratingly oblivious to basic details during his campaign — not paying that tax bill to put it behind him, not doing his own oppo, apparently unaware of possible race issues in his staff — Pritzker seems to be doing a great job in the transition.
Comment by Nick Name Friday, Dec 14, 18 @ 12:52 pm