Rock Island Today

As a Better Government Associate (BGA) report found the blind trust set up to manage Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s portfolio had invested in a state contractor, Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) is calling for government transparency.

In a Feb. 25 news conference regarding the BGA report, McCombie highlighted claims that the blind trust had bought stock in health insurance giant Centene Corp. 

“Obviously this wouldn't be a story if there wasn't an obvious conflict of interest. Pritzker’s representatives, nor managers of his trust would say how much the investment in Centene is worth to the governor's bottom line,” McCombie said. 

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. 

“This is one of the largest state contracts in Illinois," McCombie said. "Centene has made millions on serving our most vulnerable population under Medicaid. And it's not appropriate or ethical for the governor to be a known investor."

Among comments, McCombie added that Centene faced antitrust concerns from 2019 to 2020 during its $17 billion acquisition of the Medicaid insurer. In September 2020, she said, the state enrolled 36,000 juvenile state wards to a Centene-controlled company amid concerns from foster parents and child welfare advocates. 

The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), McCombie said, has been the subject of conversation multiple times recently, including a director held in contempt four times and DCFS caseworkers murdered on the job. Despite this, she said, Prtizker has failed to take action to reform the agency, emphasizing concerns with his conflicts within DCFS.

“An agency that continues to be plagued by scandal and that is linked directly to a company the governor is profiting from. It is time to answer to the people of Illinois and support our most vulnerable. It's not good to be profiting from the medical care and the hardships of our most vulnerable,” McCombie said.

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

According to the report, Centene released a statement to the BGA stating it was not aware that Pritzker was a record 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.