Bipartisanship is a laudable goal and a noble sentiment. It also is a rare phenomenon in modern politics, so the onus will be on the administration of Gov. J.B. Pritzker to prove the two-party talk of his early days in office is more than just empty rhetoric.

In his budget speech Wednesday, Pritzker doubled down on the tone of bipartisanship he has been striving to set since being elected in November. “Budgeting will not be done by taking the state hostage, or by court orders, consent decrees and continuing appropriations but instead by debate and compromise and a return to regular order,” he said.

This follows some showy moves from the transition period: appointing former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar to help lead his transition; turning over the Department of Revenue to a Republican; even appearing at a GOP celebration during inauguration festivities.

The tone stands in stark contrast to Pritzker’s predecessor, Bruce Rauner, who vilified House Speaker Michael Madigan and the Democrats to get elected, then never let up after he won. In word and deed, Pritzker has signaled an intention to change the tone and tactics of governing.

But the math of politics is working against such sentiments, and Pritzker’s early move on the minimum wage bill — for which he earned not a single Republican vote — is a sign that the comradely talk will be tough to put into action.

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David Greising is the president and chief executive of the Better Government Association, joining the BGA in 2018. For nearly a century, the BGA has fought for honest and effective government through investigative journalism and policy advocacy.

Greising’s career started at the City News Bureau of Chicago, with stops at the Chicago Sun-Times, Business Week magazine, the Chicago Tribune and Reuters. He was a co-founder of the Chicago News Cooperative and worked briefly as a consultant to World Business Chicago. Today, Greising writes on government issues in regular columns for the Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business.

Under Greising’s leadership, the BGA has played a key role in uncovering public corruption amidst the wide-ranging federal probe, starting with an in-depth report about Ald. Ed Burke’s conflicts of interest before the federal charges against Burke. The BGA also has exposed waste and fraud at O’Hare and the proliferation of corruption and poverty into Dolton, Lyons and other Chicago suburbs. The BGA’s policy team has led calls for ethics reform in Chicago’s City Council and in state government.