Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) is calling for transparency in light of a Better Government Associate (BGA) report that found the blind trust set up to manage Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s portfolio had invested in a state contractor.

In a recent news conference regarding the BGA report, Mazzochi highlighted claims that the blind trust had bought stock in health insurance giant Centene Corp. She referenced the state’s conflict of interest statute, which prohibits any person holding elective office from having or requiring a contract or any direct pecuniary interest in any contract that will be even partially satisfied by the payment of funds appropriated by the general assembly.

“Despite Gov. Pritzker’s promises to not invest in companies, he did invest in Centene Corp. who has received billions of dollars in state contracts for Medicaid services,” Mazzochi said in the conference.

According to the BGA report, the purchase of stock in Centene was made on behalf of the governor by trustees at Northern Trust, appointed by Pritzker to manage his portfolio and separate investment decisions from his role as governor. 

“Today we know that despite his legal advice, the governor's not-so-blind trust actually did get an ownership interest in a company that was awarded the state contract worth billions of dollars,” Mazzochi said. “The time has come for the governor to come clean with the residents of Illinois and be open, honest and fully transparent about his financial interest during his tenure including what he owns, what got bought, what got sold.”

Among comments, Mazzochi said that while it's been revealed that Pritzker’s blind trust owns a company receiving massive state contracts, it has not been revealed what other trusts or entities the governor benefits from by having state contracts.

“Gov. Pritzker has known about this problem since April of 2021 but he's still refusing to give straight answers about how this happened and what he's done in response,” Mazzochi said. “Gov. Pritzker promised that he would not be invested in any state contractors. And he broke it, and not just in a little way but with one of the biggest vendors in the state.”

Centene collected more than $2.6 billion from the state’s Medicaid contracts in the first half of 2021, the BGA report states.

According to the report, Centene released a statement to the BGA stating it was not aware that Pritzker was a holder of its stock.

Pritzker’s attorney and his campaign spokesperson said that Pritzker had no part in any of the investments in his blind trust.