Kendall County Times

The Better Government Association (BGA) recently reported that billionaire Gov. J.B. Pritzker's blind trust bought stock in health insurance giant Centene Corp. in 2020. Centene is one of  Illinois' biggest Medicaid contractors, BGA noted.

State Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-Oswego) sees a conflict of interest.

"When  he was elected Governor, J.B. Pritzker made a pledge that he would purge his personal portfolio of any companies that do business with the state," Wheeler said on Facebook. "The Governor has broken yet another promise to the people of Illinois  by investing his personal fortune in one of our state's biggest Medicaid contractors."   

"The investment in Centene — which collected more than $2.6 billion from state Medicaid  contracts in the first half of 2021 alone — demonstrates the pitfalls of a blind-trust arrangement that still leaves the nation’s richest  governor open to potential conflicts of interest," BGA said. 

Fox 32 News reported that Pritzker's "lawyer wrote, in part, 'His blind trust is just that: blind. He receives no information regarding potential investments ... He has no knowledge of the trust’s  current assets. To suggest otherwise is ... potentially libelous.'"  

Pritzker has a net worth of $3.6 billion, according to Forbes, making him the richest politician in the U.S.

The blind trust prohibits Pritzker from communicating with its managers, the Better Government  Association said.

“Gov. Pritzker’s trust is blind,” campaign spokeswoman Natalie  Edelstein told the BGA. “This means he is not a part of any decisions, nor does he have any information regarding any investments.

But wealth management trustees at Northern Trust do provide the governor with a list of his investments each year as a requirement of state conflict of interest and disclosure laws, the group said.

“It’s a blind trust in the way of – put your hand over one eye,” said Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause, which promotes government transparency.