Pritzker tours storm damage, signs flood relief bill expanding local Chicago programs

(Capitol News Illinois) – Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill on Friday that allows more Chicago homeowners to access financial relief for flood damage locally while many communities in the state cleaned up from damaging storms.

Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3925, which allows home equity assurance programs to establish a temporary three-year rebate program that certain Chicago homeowners can tap into to repair flood damage. The state law says municipalities must have at least 1 million residents to create such a district, meaning only Chicago qualifies.

There are two such programs within the city — one known as the Northwest Home Equity Program, the other the Southwest Home Equity Program — that are created by state law but governed by local commissions and funded by special property taxes levied within the districts.

Eligible homeowners who live within the districts can apply to be reimbursed for half of their flood remediation costs up to $1,000.

The legislation was passed in response to significant flooding on the Southwest Side of Chicago last summer. The federal government denied Illinois’ request for disaster assistance following the event, leaving many homeowners short on financial resources.

“The Trump administration turned their back,” Pritzker said at a news conference in Chicago before signing the bill. “Relief for Illinois families whose homes were damaged by severe storms, crucial assistance that could have helped them rebuild their homes and their lives, was denied.”

Pritzker characterized the legislation as the latest example of the state trying to fill gaps while federal programs, ranging from disaster relief to food and healthcare assistance, are reduced. The governor said he hopes financial help from home equity assurance programs will provide residents short-term money to make repairs and long-term financial “breathing room.”

“On your worst day, when the rain’s falling and everyone has that anxiety and apprehension, that’s exactly the time government needs to show up,” Sen. Mike Porfirio, D-La Grange, said. “That’s exactly the time government needs to show people that they care, that they get it, that they’re going to bring them real relief.”

Pritzker signed the bill as communities across the state deal with another round of severe storms that have brought tornadoes, wind damage and flooding. It’s the latest in a long list of damaging weather events in Illinois this year and the state has now recorded more than 200 tornadoes in 2026. Only Texas, with a significantly larger landmass, has recorded that many in one year.

On Aug. 11, a storm brought tornadoes and wind gusts approaching 100 mph to southern Cook County and Will County, according to the National Weather Service. Many of those same communities were slammed by tornadoes and high winds on July 27 and were still recovering.

Pritzker toured storm damage in Lansing on Friday afternoon where tree limbs were still scattered throughout the community, and some areas remained without power.

More storms on Thursday brought significant wind damage to McLean County, where the Normal Fire Department said it set a new record for most calls during a 24-hour shift. And Friday as Pritzker signed the bill, many communities in central Illinois reported flooding from another round of storms.

Political disaster

With the November election less than three months away, the state’s response to natural disasters has become part of Republican Darren Bailey’s campaign for governor. Bailey and his running mate, Aaron Del Mar, visited communities in the south suburbs on Thursday and said Pritzker’s response to recent storms has been inadequate.

“Government has been nowhere to be found and that’s probably the single-most important issue that I heard,” Bailey said.

The pair criticized Pritzker for attending the unveiling of the Illinois State Fair’s butter cow in Springfield on Wednesday instead of touring Cook County communities.

“When I show up, it’s helpful, it’s useful for me to see the damage, to speak to people on the ground and businesses on the ground,” Pritzker said Friday. “But we’re quite well aware already, even before I get eyes on, of what the circumstances are. And so, when I show up, what I don’t want to do is interfere.”

Bailey also called on Pritzker to form a more collaborative relationship with President Donald Trump.

“I’m calling on Gov. Pritzker and President Trump to put aside their differences and start working together to get relief for these families,” Bailey said. “Illinois should not be caught in the political crossfire simply because these two leaders cannot get along.”

A Politico analysis found Democrat-led states saw just 23% of their disaster requests granted in the first year of Trump’s second term, compared to 89% for their Republican counterparts. Under the past six administrations — including Trump’s first term — states led by either party saw similar rates of approval, between 70% and 90%. The analysis also found that the administration takes twice as long to issue decisions on requests from blue states.

Though Bailey called for Pritzker and Trump to work together, federal disaster relief for this week’s storms would still be far down the line. The state typically conducts damage assessments in partnership with local officials before issuing a disaster declaration — a process that usually takes several days or more. Whether the state declares a disaster often depends on whether the local government needs more resources, meaning rural communities with fewer resources might be more likely to need the state’s help than larger places like Cook County, Pritzker said.

Cook County had not issued a disaster declaration for this week’s storms as of midday Friday.

A state disaster declaration is “the kickoff of our attempt to get federal money,” Pritzker said. “That’s the signal. We take that document, that disaster declaration, and essentially present it to the federal government, saying, ‘We’ve declared a disaster, it’s time for you to deliver.’ And so it doesn’t need to happen on Day 1.”

Pritzker issued an expansive disaster declaration at the end of June for 11 counties, which covered storms between March and June. That disaster declaration was preceded by several local declarations requesting help from the state.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which often has thresholds states must meet to qualify for disaster aid, isn’t the state’s only option for federal assistance. The U.S. Small Business Administration approved a disaster declaration for Kankakee County following a March tornado. That allows residents and businesses to apply for loans to repair or replace damaged property.

(Reporting by Ben Szalinski, Capitol News Illinois. Maggie Dougherty contributed from Lansing.)

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.