Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Governor JB Pritzker says there isn’t enough housing in Illinois to keep up with demand.

So that’s why Pritzker, in his annual budget address Wednesday, proposed what he calls “BUILD”: :”Building Up Illinois Developments, that he claims will lower housing costs and speeding up construction.

“This is an ambitious slate of reforms designed to eliminate unnecessary barriers and lower costs for housing construction, produce a wider range of family friendly housing types, and streamline construction processes,” said Pritzker, in prepared remarks given to the Illinois General Assembly.  “We will enable more unused housing units to be redeveloped and put into service.”

Pritzker said local regulations and zoning rules often make it too difficult to build new homes, and he says the state can change that.  An estimated 227,000 more homes are needed in the state by 2030 in order to meet demand, according to a study Pritzker referenced from the University of Illinois.

Pritzker spent some time criticizing President Trump and his administration during his speech; but, perhaps, not as much as Republicans feared.  Pritzker says some of the problems he had in coming up with a state budget for the next fiscal year were caused by Trump.

“If you want to talk about our FY 2027 budget, you must first demand the return of the money and resources this President has taken from the people of Illinois,” said Pritzker.  He claims $8.4 billion is “how much the Trump administration has cost the people of Illinois.”  The state has filed 55 lawsuits against the administration.

“These are not handouts,” said Pritzker.  “These are dollars that real Illinoisans paid in federal taxes and that have been constitutionally approved by our elected Democratic and Republican representatives in Washington.”

Pritzker also criticized Trump for his immigration enforcement in policies, which claimed at least one life in Illinois, and two in Minnesota.  He used words and terms like “mafia,” “making life harder,” and “drip authoritarianism.”  The Governor compared Trump to late President Grover Cleveland, who deputized 5,000 people at U.S. Marshals in 1894 to stop a strike involving Pullman railroad workers, killing 25 and wounding more.

Pritzker is proposing nearly $132 billion in spending, about $56 billion of which comes from the state’s General Fund, and he claims discretionary spending is up only one half of one percent.

Pritzker also took aim at data centers, with several in the works for Central Illinois, one of which is planned for Sangamon County, and is slated to get a zoning board vote Thursday. He says power grid operators need to make sure data centers pay their power bills in full, and not for any sort of incentives.

“I’m proposing a two year pause on authorization of new data center tax credits,” said Pritzker.  “With the shifting energy landscape, it is imperative that our growth does not undermine affordability and stability for our families.”

Pritzker also cited lifting a moratorium on nuclear power production, and the recent signing of what he says was clean energy jobs legislation.

Pritzker called this year’s budget proposal “difficult” to do, but used the word “love” to describe the state of the state.

“…it turns out that love actually is all around – and that those who think that cruelty can destroy it, are incapable of understanding the power of a nation moved by it,” said Pritzker.  “I love my country. I refuse to stop. The hope I have found in a very difficult year is that love is the light that gets you through a long night. ​”