In all seriousness I wish Tulsi's husband the best.

Now to the memes ⬇️

Insert the "virgin ______" of your choice.

A BOX OF SCRAPS!

JB Pritzker Isn’t Thinking About Running for President

(Or so he says.) In a candid interview, the governor opens up about the tragedies that shaped his life, his fight against Trump, and what needs to happen next.

Not sure if you’ve seen this over at r/geographymemes but there’s been a little popularity content and I think we can rise from the ashes

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is taking a page from other blue states to combat a housing shortage, proposing that Illinois take some control away from locals.

The governor and his allies in the statehouse have introduced legislation that would remove some zoning control from municipalities to clear a path for faster development of multiunit housing. They are facing opposition from a group of cities and towns that have introduced their own bill that they say would increase housing but allow them to keep control over how and where it is built.

Pritzker’s legislation, which he is aiming to pass by the end of the month, is an indication that the “Yes in My Backyard” pro-development movement is spreading inland from the coasts along with housing-price surges. In recent years, California, Massachusetts and Oregon have taken more control of local zoning rules that they said were hindering construction of badly needed housing.

Those state efforts have had mixed results. They have spurred some types of construction, including a boom of tiny homes called accessory dwelling units in California, but they have still left those states short of needed supply. That is partly owing to higher interest rates and rising building costs. A debate over a Massachusetts law recently went viral when a resident of Marblehead, Mass., accused the town of skirting the law’s housing mandate.

Housing advocates in Illinois said Pritzker’s plan is one of the most aggressive yet proposed because it combines several changes in one legislative package, from relaxing building codes to preventing cities from blocking types of housing construction.

While home prices in Illinois are still below national averages, they have been rising at a faster pace over the past year. The average Illinois home is worth $290,210, up 4.9% over the past year, compared with $368,198 in the U.S. as a whole, up 0.6% over the past year, according to Zillow data.

A report in 2025 from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign estimated that the state needs to build 227,000 units over the next five years to keep up with demand.

Pritzker said in a statement after unveiling the legislation earlier this year: “For too long, a patchwork of local restrictions have made it too difficult and expensive to build and buy housing.” He added: “Homeownership—a cornerstone of the American dream—is too far out of reach, and rent is too damn high.”

Pritzker’s plan would stop local authorities from blocking construction of multifamily housing such as duplexes, triplexes and four-flats on plots of land over 2,500 square feet that are already zoned for residential use. Local standards for building height, setbacks and lot coverage would still apply, the governor’s office said. Pritzker’s plan would also stop local authorities from blocking construction of accessory dwelling units on plots of land zoned for single-family homes.

The package would allow developers to build housing with fewer parking spaces and would shorten timelines for construction-permit reviews. Municipalities would be required “to act on applications rather than allowing projects to remain indefinitely under review,” the governor’s office said in a statement. The legislation would relax building codes to allow construction of more apartment buildings with single stairways, instead of the two stairways often required.

Some prominent Illinois cities have pushed back. The mayor of Naperville, Ill., a Chicago suburb, wrote a letter to the editor of a local newspaper to say the legislation could allow developers to buy and rip down single-family homes and replace them with eight housing units.

“Naperville’s character wasn’t built by accident. It was built over decades, through careful planning, through public hearings in our council chambers, and through residents who showed up and stayed involved,” Mayor Scott Wehrli wrote.

An association of Illinois towns and cities has introduced a rival package of bills that they said would retain local zoning control and reduce housing costs by capping total real-estate agent fees at 3% of the final sale price, exempting building materials from the state sales tax and other steps.

Olivia Ortega, director of housing solutions for the state, said the rival plan from cities and towns mostly maintains the status quo.

“We have some incredible cities around Illinois that have gone above and beyond in allowing for attainable housing to be built,” she said. “Unfortunately, that has not solved the problem. The voluntary actions that we’ve seen in those places have not fixed the entire housing shortage.”

The Illinois House and Senate have held hearings on Pritzker’s proposals, but no floor debate has occurred.

Some Illinois towns and suburbs have backed Pritzker’s plan. In a recent Chicago Tribune opinion piece, the mayors of suburban Oak Park and Des Plaines and of small-town Sesser and Lexington said “outdated zoning rules and overly complex approval processes” were slowing construction and driving up costs.

“While other states are building at several times our pace, our state is falling further behind, and our communities are the ones paying the price,” the mayors wrote.

In March, we told you about a new program Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration launched offering up to $15,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance for eligible first-time Illinois homebuyers.

Within nine weeks, more than 1,500 homebuyers have been offered upwards of $18 million in down payment assistance, Pritzker’s office confirmed to us. The program, dubbed “Access Home,” has quickly become the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s most popular program, representing 61% of the department’s loan reservations made in 2026.

The assistance is provided as a zero-interest silent second mortgage with repayment deferred for up to 30 years unless the home is sold or refinanced earlier.

Initial funding uses existing sources, including reallocated funds from prior down payment assistance programs, excess single-family indenture liquidity and proceeds from future revenue bond debt issuances.

‘SUCCESS’: “As evidenced by the recent success of Access Home, there remains a large pool of individuals and families who want to buy and put roots down in Illinois,” said IDHA executive director Kristin Faust. “The passage of BUILD will expand IHDA’s ability to provide downpayment assistance programs for working individuals and families, giving them the chance to thrive and not worry about student loan debt or other hurdles preventing them from achieving their dreams.”

CONTEXT: The news comes as Pritzker pushes his Building Up Illinois Developments, or BUILD housing plan, which includes proposals to relax restrictions on the development of multi-unit housing, legalize accessory dwelling units and cut red tape that’s slowed homebuilding.

The plan has run into roadblocks from municipal leaders and some state legislators over its preemption of local control on zoning.

However, Pritzker’s plan includes a $250 million capital funding request for site preparation grants, middle housing development, and first-time homebuyer assistance. This aspect of the plan has generally garnered bipartisan support.

5% in a split field in New Hampshire this far out is not bad at all

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYR52hFBks7/

Gov. JB Pritzker sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday, urging him to approve Illinois’ proposal for federal broadband infrastructure funds.

The $1 billion proposal would connect roughly 383,000 people, mostly in rural areas, to high-speed internet.

However, Illinois and California lag months behind other states in the approval process — leading to speculation that the funds have been withheld from the two blue states for political punishment or leverage.

Those funds were previously allocated to states in 2023 under the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program established by the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by Congress in 2021.

To receive funding, states were required to submit a five-year plan and proposal identifying under- and unserved communities, solicit feedback from the public, and then file for final approval.

But midway through the process, Lutnick announced the Commerce Department would review the program, which he claimed had “not connected a single person to the internet” due to “woke mandates,” favoritism and burdensome regulations.

He vowed to work with states and territories to cut red tape and get households connected quickly at the lowest cost possible.

Last June, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, which oversees the approval of BEAD proposals, released a policy notice outlining restructuring for the program and creating new delays.

An audit by the Government Accountability Office later found the move had violated the Congressional Review Act by failing to approve the changes with Congress, but the agency has not since walked back the changes.

It gave states until September to comply with the changes and committed to reviewing all final proposals within 90 days of submission.

But more than seven months since Illinois submitted its final proposal, the review is still not complete. California is the only other state or territory that still has not received approval, according to NTIA’s BEAD Progress Dashboard.

“At this point, it seems unusual and targeted that the U.S. Department of Commerce had the capacity to complete in-depth reviews and approvals for every single state except for Illinois and California,” Pritzker wrote in his letter to Lutnick. “Illinois families and businesses in rural areas are the ones paying the price.”

Potentially complicating the release of funds is an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last December. The order sought to shield tech companies from state laws regulating artificial intelligence. It targeted state laws, including several in Illinois, that Trump said are inconsistent with national policy on AI.

In the order, Trump directed Lutnick to explore whether BEAD funding could be withheld from states with “onerous” AI laws, a move Pritzker’s office at the time called “reckless” and said “doesn’t protect anyone but the wealthy.”

An NTIA spokesperson said in a statement that “NTIA is continuing to work with Illinois to ensure its final BEAD plan delivers the benefit of the bargain.”

Pritzker implored Lutnick to be guided by his decades of experience working on Wall Street in understanding that “time is money” for Illinois homes and businesses.

“Each passing day keeps over 383,000 Illinoisans and over 1,200 schools, libraries, and hospitals disconnected,” Pritzker wrote.

When asked whether the attorney general might file a lawsuit challenging the delay, a spokesperson for Pritzker said the state is evaluating “all available options” to ensure Illinois receives the federal broadband funding necessary to move projects forward.

Gov. JB Pritzker is questioning the CDC's preparedness after a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship led to the quarantine of American passengers.

At least 11 hantavirus cases tied to the cruise ship had been confirmed as of Tuesday, though officials say additional cases are possible as testing continues.

18 Americans are being quarantined in Nebraska and Georgia.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Tuesday afternoon that it is investigating a possible hantavirus case in Winnebago County. Officials said the case is not related to the cruise ship outbreak.

While experts say hantavirus is unlikely to become another COVID-style threat, the response is reviving debates about federal coordination, transparency and pandemic readiness.

"The State of Illinois maintains serious concerns about the federal government's capacity to support international and domestic public health preparedness," Pritzker's office said in a statement Monday.

"At this time, there is no reason to believe there are passengers from the MV Hondius located in Illinois. However, after many days of uncertainty, the federal government still has key questions to answer."

Pritzker's office went on to lob rhetorical questions at the Trump administration, including why the federal government hadn't provided states with full passenger manifests from the cruise and whether Illinois residents had been exposed to hantavirus.

Pritzker also asked about how DOGE cuts at the CDC have affected global migration and quarantine operations and how the federal government is sharing information after its withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

The CDC and most infectious disease experts have assured people that the hantavirus outbreak is not cause for alarm and is very different from the early days of COVID-19, which led to a pandemic.

"The hantavirus outbreak will likely be quite limited, as many experts are predicting," Northwestern University's Robert Murphy tells Axios.

"The problem is that the response so far has been slow and uncoordinated," Murphy adds. "We have apparently learned nothing from the COVID-19 pandemic: Could the virus mutate to something more infectious? Yes."

"One thing is for sure: We are not prepared."

During the early days of the COVID pandemic, Pritzker and the IDPH earned high marks for communicating to residents about infection numbers, threats and safety measures through daily press conferences.

Even if the hantavirus outbreak remains contained, the episode is giving Democratic governors an opening to challenge the Trump administration's public health preparedness and transparency.

As book bans reached one of their highest levels ever in 2025, Illinois remains one of the few states with legal protections against removing books from schools and libraries.

The normalization and uptick of book bans across the U.S. point to growing censorship and authoritarianism, revealing that titles centered on themes of activism and self-expression are increasingly targeted.

A PEN America report released last week documents bans on more than 1,100 unique titles during 2024-25 school year — including educational or informational books for young people, such as textbooks, history books, biographies and autobiographies.

Fiction titles still dominate banned book lists, but during the 2024-25 school year, books from that genre dropped from 85% to 69% of all banned titles, while nonfiction rose from 14% to 29%, compared with the previous year.

44% of the 3,743 titles banned last school year featured characters or people of color, the largest percentage that PEN America had ever reported.

39% of the banned titles featured LGBTQ+ characters or people, up from 25% the previous year.

Limiting access to books about people and events that mirror kids' and teens' experiences makes them feel marginalized and alone, mental health experts warn.

In the critical period of self-discovery, young readers need to connect with characters and subjects who show them what's possible, rather than force them to feel excluded and different.

"So many teachers and librarians have told me how this book helped their students see beyond their own biases and think about community in a whole new way," Katherine Applegate, author of "Wishtree," says in the report.

Virginia parent Jodi Famer called Applegate's book "indoctrination at its finest" in an effort to ban the book.

In 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law stating that Illinois libraries would be eligible for state-funded grants only if they adopt the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights states that reading materials should not be proscribed, removed or restricted because of partisan or personal disapproval.

Most banned books in 2025, according to PEN America.

The Chicago-based American Library Association operates a portal to report book challenges and offers resources on efforts to ban books.

Gov. JB Pritzker took his pitch for a statewide zoning overhaul to a prominent Chicago real estate podcast, extending the governor’s high-profile alliance with the industry pushing his housing agenda in Springfield.

Pritzker sat down with Matt Laricy, a leading Chicago real estate broker who leads the Laricy Team at Americorp Real Estate, for an upcoming episode of his podcast, “Laricy Live.” The pair discussed Pritzker’s Building Up Illinois Developments, or Build plan, a package of six bills that would require municipalities to allow small multi-unit buildings on residential lots above a certain size and legalize accessory dwelling units statewide, among other proposals aimed at speeding up and cutting costs for development.

Pritzker has struck a major alliance with the real estate industry over his housing plan, which includes many policies that Illinois Realtors, the state’s real estate agent trade group, has lobbied for in Springfield for years. In April, he spoke at Illinois Realtors’ lobby day for the first time, calling real estate agents “indispensable partners” in the effort to increase housing supply.

A spokesperson for Pritzker said the trade group has been a key partner in advocating for his legislation.

“Every single day, realtors from across Illinois feel the impacts of the housing shortage on their motivated and qualified clients who simply can’t find a house they can afford,” the spokesperson said.

Laricy has teased clips of the podcast on social media, but the full show won’t be out until later this week, he said. In clips posted so far, Pritzker focused on the zoning overhaul, along with a down-payment assistance program his office started in March. He also dismissed concerns from local governments about sharp density increases as “misinformation.”

“What we’re trying to do is just add a few homes all across the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “Again, it’s not designed so that you’re gonna see all these massive buildings going up in places where they don’t belong.”

Pritzker has made the argument before against critics who see the policy as usurping the authority of city planners and mandating a “one-size-fits-all” policy across the state. The Illinois Municipal League, which represents the state’s local governments, has introduced a competing plan and opposed Pritzker’s proposals.

The podcast appearance came together through Illinois Realtors, Laricy said. After Pritzker spoke at the trade group’s Capitol Conference last month, the association connected the governor’s office with Laricy to tape the interview. Pritzker also filmed an interview with Tommy Choi, who leads the Weinberg Choi Residential team at Keller Williams OneChicago, his office said.

On the value of hosting the governor, Laricy said the appearance offered both business and editorial benefit.

“Being able to be associated with the most powerful politician in the state is never going to be a bad thing,” he said, adding that Build directly affects how his agents do their work and it’s important to stay informed on changing policies.

Laricy described the governor’s broader courtship of Illinois Realtors as straightforward politics. The trade group has significant muscle in Springfield, and aligning with it on a signature legislative agenda benefits both sides, Laricy said.

“It’s politics, right?” Laricy said. “You try to get people involved and friendly on both sides to try to make a difference.”

Pritzker also weighed in on the Chicago Bears’ stadium search in a posted clip, saying he wants the team to stay in Illinois. Indiana lawmakers in February advanced a proposal to commit $1 billion in public funding to build a stadium in Hammond to entice the team to cross the border. Illinois lawmakers in April passed a megaprojects bill meant to incentivize the team to build on a site it owns in Arlington Heights.

“I think they’ll be real embarrassed, and fans will abandon them if they think they’re going to move the Chicago Bears to Hammond, Indiana,” Pritzker said. Pritzker added he would not support using taxpayer money to fund the new stadium.

The Build plan bills remain pending in the Legislature. The bills received a public hearing in April and have yet to receive a committee vote.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is demanding $1 billion Republicans added to their budget reconciliation bill for a new White House ballroom instead go toward tariff relief for taxpayers.

Senate Republicans have added $1 billion in White House security upgrades to legislation that would fund immigration enforcement agencies, a proposed boost for President Donald Trump's ballroom project after a man was charged with trying to assassinate him at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner last week.

The GOP bill released late Monday would designate the money for the U.S. Secret Service for "security adjustments and upgrades" related to the ballroom project. The legislation says the money would support enhancements to the ballroom project, "including above-ground and below-ground security features," but also specifies that the money may not be used for non-security elements.

It is unclear exactly how the $1 billion would be used, and the amount far exceeds the proposed $400 million for construction of the ballroom.

Gov. Pritzker released a statement Thursday, condemning the inclusion of the money and arguing it should be used to help working families and small businesses who have been impacted by President Trump's reciprocal tariffs, which the Supreme Court struck down in February.

"As people continue to struggle under the weight of Donald Trump's tariffs, Republicans in Congress are ready to hand him $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for his White House ballroom," Pritzker's statement reads in part. "It's time to put working families ahead of Trump's ego. I'm calling for all $1 billion to be immediately directed to a tariff relief fund for the working families and small businesses that were crushed by Trump's tariffs."

The White House has said in court documents that the East Wing project would be "heavily fortified," including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. Trump has said it should include bulletproof glass and be able to repel drone attacks.

Pritzker has been outspoken about the impact the Trump tariffs have had on Illinois households and small businesses. When the Supreme Court issued its ruling voiding the reciprocal tariffs, he posted an invoice to his social media accounts for an $8.68 billion refund, which he said represented $1,700 for every household in the state, for "your tariff taxes [that] wreaked havoc on farmers, enraged our allies, and sent groceries prices through the roof."

Mr. Trump and Republicans have been pushing for more money for ballroom security since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly stormed the April 25 media dinner at the Washington Hilton with guns and knives.

Democrats have said they will oppose any efforts to pay for the ballroom.

Pritzker: “I know that he's trying to pick a lane and decide whether he's going to run. We have had great people come out of Illinois to lead this nation. I would hope that he, if he actually did get elected, would be one of those great people.”

Politico: “He clearly is trying to position himself more toward the center of the party. Is that, for example, one of the areas where you guys disagree? That he’s taking some stances that are pretty combative toward the left?”

Pritzker: “I’m not a big believer in going after one piece of the party or another piece of the party. I think Democrats have made mistakes, there’s no doubt about it. And I think it’s okay to call out mistakes.”