Governor Pritzker’s proposed budget and executive orders project an inspired vision for Illinois’ economic and clean energy future, but elements of this budget raise important questions about how the state will balance competitiveness, job creation, and long-term energy affordability — particularly when it comes to policies impacting critical infrastructure growth.
A moratorium on tax incentives for data centers, which guarantees local jobs due to its project labor agreement requirement, would not stop development — it would simply send projects, jobs, and billions in private capital to neighboring states.
Developers have choices, and if Illinois becomes less competitive, they will choose to build elsewhere — while Illinois ratepayers continue to shoulder the cost of exporting power without capturing the local jobs, tax base growth, property tax relief and other significant economic benefits.
If the goal is to ease pressure on consumers and strengthen long-term affordability, the most durable solution is not limiting economic growth — it is expanding the reliable, carbon-free energy supply that powers it. Illinois’ ability to attract major employers and protect ratepayers depends on ensuring we have abundant, stable generation to meet rising demand.
That is why we strongly commend the Governor’s executive order to expand nuclear energy capacity. Strengthening Illinois’ nuclear fleet will help stabilize the grid, put downward pressure on long-term energy costs, and create thousands of high-quality union jobs across the state.
Illinois must pursue a strategy that aligns competitiveness with affordability — welcoming job-creating investment while building the energy infrastructure necessary to support it. We believe that balance is achievable. Climate Jobs Illinois looks forward to working with the Governor and lawmakers to ensure Illinois remains the best place in the Midwest to build, invest, and put people to work.
About Climate Jobs Illinois
Climate Jobs Illinois represents the hundreds of thousands of Illinois working men and women who are best equipped to build Illinois’ new clean-energy economy from the ground up. Executive Committee members of Climate Jobs Illinois are: Illinois AFL-CIO, Chicago Federation of Labor, Chicago & Cook County Building & Construction Trades Council, Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, International Association of Heat & Frost Insulators, Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers,
International Association of Bridge Structural Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers State Council, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150,
Laborers International Union of North America Great Lakes Region, Laborers International Union of North America Midwest Region and the the Illinois Pipe Trades Association.
Climate Jobs Illinois is a state affiliate of the Climate Jobs National Resource Center. CJI has partnered with The Project for Middle Class Renewal at UIUC, Illinois Economic Policy Institute and Cornell University Worker Institute.
To learn more, visit https://climatejobsillinois.org, and follow CJI at @ClimateJobsIL on Twitter or join its Facebook page.