Gov. J.B. Pritzker traveled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday so the Chicago Democrat could join President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of governors and mayors for a discussion on “national investments in infrastructure,” Pritzker’s office said.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Pritzker was to be one of three governors and five mayors to talk with the Democratic president as Biden tries to pass a $1.2 trillion, nationwide infrastructure package in Congress.
Pritzker’s own $45 billion Rebuild Illinois infrastructure program was passed by the Illinois General Assembly on a bipartisan basis in 2019 and covers a six-year period.
The program funds road repairs and a host of other improvements and is paid for with a doubling of the state’s motor-fuel tax, a tax increase on cigarettes, expanded gambling that includes new casinos in Chicago and its suburbs, and the introduction of legalized sports betting.