Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker rolled out a detailed road map Wednesday telling the incoming Democratic Congress exactly what he thinks it should do starting on day one — and he means that literally. The 75-page document, titled Fighting for Illinois: The Day One Agenda, lays out proposals touching everything from the minimum wage to SNAP, Medicaid, immigration, gasoline blends, sports betting and tariff refunds.
“I believe that on Day One — and I literally mean Day One — that they should begin to introduce legislation,” Pritzker said, adding, “I’m looking for very quick action,” according to NBC News. The plan is framed around federal policy and funding recommendations that, per the outlet, could pertain to states well beyond Illinois. NBC News reports the document contains 200 items Pritzker believes Democrats should tackle immediately, while the governor’s own newsroom release describes it as approximately 200 proposals and Politico puts the count at nearly 200 — accounts that differ slightly on the exact tally but agree on the scale of the ask.
A Review of Trump-Era Cuts Aimed at Illinois
The governor said he directed state agencies and deputy governors to go through the Trump administration’s cuts to federal programs and grants that had the greatest impact on Illinois residents, then specify how the incoming 120th Congress could reverse that damage, the station reports. That review is the backbone of the agenda, which Pritzker has reportedly spent months crafting since beginning work on it in the summer.
Among the most pointed recommendations: restoring Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid funding cut under the Trump administration. “Even if Trump vetoes a restoration of those programs, they should pass it,” Pritzker said, per the same account. The governor’s release goes further, specifically calling for repealing the cuts, including new cost-sharing requirements and administrative burdens shifted onto states.
SNAP Cuts Already Squeezing Illinois Households
The stakes behind that push are already visible on the ground. The governor’s office has estimated that 360,000 Illinoisans will lose SNAP benefits due to eligibility changes, according to Capitol News Illinois. Starting October 1, a federal law known as H.R. 1 began shifting 25% more SNAP administrative expenses onto the state, a change Capitol News Illinois reports will cost Illinois an estimated $80 million more annually.
The outlet also notes that Illinois lawmakers tried to soften the blow by including a one-time $400 payment for affected households in the state’s 2026 budget, though the report says the payment’s ultimate effects remain unclear. Separately, Illinois has leaned on programs like Link Match, whose spending has climbed from $469,000 in 2021 to $2.26 million in 2025, per the same Capitol News Illinois reporting.
Minimum Wage, Immigration and Tariff Refunds
The agenda calls for Congress to propose a federal minimum wage increase promptly and move it through hearings and committee votes, NBC News reports. The federal minimum wage has sat at $7.25 per hour, compared with Illinois’s $15-per-hour state minimum — a gap that has fueled sharper demands elsewhere in Illinois politics, including senator-elect Juliana Stratton’s call for a $25-per-hour minimum wage.
On immigration, the plan calls for ending indiscriminate immigration round-ups and mass deportation, strengthening oversight, pursuing accountability and advancing immigration reform, while also recommending restored Temporary Protected Status for immigrants. Pritzker said comprehensive immigration reform was left out of the plan because it requires longer-term discussions, the network reports. The agenda additionally recommends passing the Tariff Relief for Consumer Act, which would require large corporations that received tariff refunds to show how they’re passing those savings on to consumers.
A Push for Year-Round E15 and State Authority on Betting
The plan also recommends year-round production of E15, a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline, which Pritzker has said would increase ethanol demand, help Illinois agriculture and lower fuel prices, according to NBC News. It is not a new fight for the governor: back in April, he made the same case in a letter to members of the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce, as reported by NPR Illinois. That outlet cited projections showing year-round E15 could increase ethanol demand by 4.5 billion gallons between 2021 and 2035, adding 1.5 billion bushels of corn demand.
The agenda rounds out with a recommendation to give states more authority over betting markets, which the governor’s newsroom release frames as a proposal to prohibit nationwide prediction markets on sports, elections and events while affirming state control. Pritzker also said congressional committees should lead investigations into the administration and that Congress should move quickly to reverse harm to working families, NBC News reports.
