It’s always wise to assume the flowery quotes in government press releases may not fully reflect reality, but it’s rare to find one that quickly leads to its own counterbalance.
On Tuesday, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, along with Gov. JB Pritzker, announced the launch of Opportunity Zones 2.0. Congress revamped the program in 2025, and now states have until the end of September to submit new lists of census tracts for consideration. Federal designation should start next year. The program offers federal tax incentives for investment in targeted areas.
It frankly took a lot of reading to yield that summary – which economic development professionals might argue is oversimplified – but that seemed necessary given all the good things everyone in the release has to say.
“Opportunity Zones are a powerful and effective tool for driving investment in communities that are too often overlooked,” said Pritzker, “and turning that investment into quality jobs and real opportunity.”
“With Opportunity Zones 2.0, Team Illinois can build on our state’s strengths to attract new investment, support business growth and create lasting economic momentum in every region of Illinois,” said Christy George, president and CEO of the Illinois Economic Development Corp.
And so forth.
The release points to the Opportunity Zone page on DCEO’s website, dceo.illinois.gov/oppzn.html. That landing page links to an eight-page program overview on the initial federal program and the 2025 revamp. The opening paragraph, unattributed to a person, contains the dose of reality missing from the glowing predictions of Tuesday’s announcement:
“In 2018, Illinois designated 327 census tracts in the original OZ 1.0 program. While notable investments did reach some of the designated communities, the program’s outcomes have been uneven, and overall program utilization in Illinois has underperformed against national averages.”
The document also reports that by the end of 2020, only 20% of all the eligible tracts had received an investment, the lowest rate of any state. That’s about 65 of the 327 zones Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed. But he could only nominate a quarter of 1,305 qualifying tracts, which means the program overall could help only 2.7% of potentially qualifying zones.
It’s easy to justify excitement for OZ 2.0 as a possible corrective to the substandard outcomes from the past eight years, especially for those with faith in Congressional revisions, such as stricter eligibility criteria, new transparency and reporting requirements, and extra benefits in rural areas.
DCEO expressed high confidence in new tools – partnered with Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies – for the next site selection process and credited Congress for creating “conditions for more effective state-level strategy.”
Improving from last place is a low bar. Illinois needs much better results to validate Tuesday’s optimism.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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August 27, 2026 at 10:06AM
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