A QPQ Tracker study · Illinois · 2023–2026
Illinois: who paid for the data centers and what the state decided
Ameren is Illinois’s largest payer at $2.17M, then Amazon $674,000, Vistra $598,100, Constellation $548,305 and Google $457,200. The four legislative leaders are the largest recipients: Senate President Don Harmon $303,850 and Speaker Chris Welch $282,600 from the payer set. Gov. Pritzker took nothing. His campaign is self-funded.
The 2019 data center incentive stands: 34 agreements and $10.67B in committed investment by the state’s own 2025 report. The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, signed January 8, 2026, touches data centers only through backup-generator air rules. The POWER Act, which the Data Center Coalition opposed, missed the May 31, 2026 deadline. Pritzker paused new incentive agreements from July 1, 2026.
Meta put $750,000 into Making Our Tomorrow, its Illinois super PAC, in February 2026. It spent about that much for four House candidates in the March primary. One won.
Who paid
Each company's direct giving from its treasury and employee PAC, as filed in Illinois. Executives' personal cheques, super PAC spending and lobbying are different kinds of money and are not added here.
| Payer | Class | Direct giving in Illinois | Filings (every state the payer files in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ameren | Utility | $2,167,667 | 2 filer rows → |
| Amazon | Hyperscaler | $674,000 | |
| Vistra | Utility | $598,100 | |
| Constellation Energy | Utility | $548,305 | Filings and recipients → |
| Hyperscaler | $457,200 | ||
| NRG Energy | Utility | $232,913 | |
| MidAmerican Energy | Utility | $147,771 | Filings and recipients → |
| Microsoft | Hyperscaler | $27,750 | |
| Oracle | Hyperscaler | $10,000 | |
| Exelon (ComEd, PECO) | Utility | $9,592 | |
| Meta | Hyperscaler | $3,200 | 2 filer rows → |
| Digital Realty | Data center operator | $985 | Filings and recipients → |
| QTS Data Centers | Data center operator | $732 | Filings and recipients → |
Who took it
The Illinois officeholders and candidates who received the most from the payer set, and what each did on the state's data center measures: the votes they cast, the bills they authored, the orders they signed. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled.
1 measure voted on
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on
- NaySB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on
- NaySB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on · 2 actions on measures
- advocated forSB 2181: data center energy and water reportingIntroduced
- advocated forSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on
- NaySB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forPOWER Act: HB 5513 / SB 4016, clean-energy and cost rules for large data center loadsIntroduced
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
1 measure voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forPOWER Act: HB 5513 / SB 4016, clean-energy and cost rules for large data center loadsIntroduced
- YeaSB 25: Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458Enacted
The 12 largest recipients of any kind, committees included
| # | Recipient | Kind | From the payer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Harmon (Illinois) | person | $303,850 |
| 2 | Emanuel "Chris" Welch | person | $282,600 |
| 3 | Isdf, Nfp | PAC or committee | $272,100 |
| 4 | Democrats for the Illinois House | PAC or committee | $206,100 |
| 5 | John Curran (Illinois) | person | $192,282 |
| 6 | Tony McCombie | person | $187,470 |
| 7 | Senate Republican Victory Fund | PAC or committee | $171,032 |
| 8 | Democratic Party of Illinois (Illinois) | PAC or committee | $151,200 |
| 9 | House Republican Organization | PAC or committee | $146,000 |
| 10 | Jay Hoffman (Illinois) | person | $91,374 |
| 11 | Friends for Larry Walsh Jr | PAC or committee | $90,501 |
| 12 | Friends of Sue Rezin | PAC or committee | $78,717 |
What they decided
Every Illinois bill, regulator's order, executive action and election the study tracks, with its result, its recorded vote and the people and companies on the record for it. Each links to the official document.
Illinois6 measures
- Executive actionEnactedJul 1, 2026JB Pritzker shaped
- BillIntroducedMay 22, 2026Steve Stadelman advocated for
- Regulator's orderEnactedMar 19, 2026Illinois Commerce Commission issued
- BillIntroducedFeb 6, 2026Robyn Gabel (Illinois) advocated for; Ram Villivalam advocated for
- BillEnactedJan 8, 2026House last roll 4–1 among 5 loaded members, Oct 29, 2025Senate last roll 4–2 among 6 loaded members, Oct 30, 202511 votes loadedJay Hoffman (Illinois) advocated for; Ann M. Williams advocated for; Steve Stadelman advocated for; Bill Cunningham advocated for; JB Pritzker shaped
- BillEnactedJun 28, 2019
How to read this page
The money is corporate-treasury and employee-PAC giving reported in Illinois’s own filing system, the State Board of Elections bulk files, from January 2023 to the latest filing loaded (1,875 contributions, January 2023 to October 2026). Transfers between a politician’s own committees, conduit memo lines and gifts from the opposing side are left out. Executives’ personal cheques, super PAC spending, 527 transfers and lobbying are different kinds of money. The report keeps them apart, and the written part of this page names them as such. Nothing on this page adds across kinds.
The votes are the legislature’s own roll calls, loaded for the members the study follows. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled. The measures are the bills, commission orders, executive actions and elections the study identified; each links to its official record.
Every payer total was reconciled against the payer’s own reports where the state publishes them. The checks are in the report’s verification log. Figures on this page were last recomputed on October 31, 2026. Correlation is not proof of causation; the record shows what was paid and what was decided.