With time slipping away, Illinois lawmakers worked against the clock on Sunday to agree on a plan aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears from moving across state lines.
NBC Chicago’s Paris Schutz said discussions among Senate Democrats could accurately be described as a “Hail Mary.”
The night prior, the Bears’ “megaprojects” bill’s senate sponsor, Sen. Bill Cunningham of Chicago, emerged from a meeting empty handed and revealed the bill did not have the votes to pass. So, the plan, which would have given the Bears the ability to pay a negotiated amount of fees to a municipality instead of the full amount of property taxes, effectively died.
The Bears said that such an agreement was an absolute must to construct a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights, but many lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle raised significant concerns. Chicago lawmakers questioned whether the Bears should be incentivized to leave Chicago, which they’ve called home since the early 1920s. Other lawmakers expressed concerns that locking in property tax rates could put the onus on other property owners within Cook County to pick up the slack in terms of school funding.
Progressive Chicago lawmakers were the biggest holdouts – some of them spurred by opposition from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates.
On Sunday, legislative leaders were meeting furiously to craft their “plan B” – a municipally-owned public stadium authority; it would be specific to Cook County and allow municipalities to own the stadium – meaning Arlington Heights and Chicago could both establish a public stadium authority.
The Bears would pay all the costs of building the stadium – but would not own it, which means they would pay zero property taxes on it; that would be the “tax certainty” they’ve been asking for.
The bill was filed late Sunday evening.
As Chicago Bears fans wait to see what happens in Springfield, the mayors of Arlington Heights, Chicago and Hammond are also paying close attention. Mary Ann Ahern reports.
With the “megaprojects” bill effectively dead and lawmakers considering the new option – Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia said, “I will always consider options but we’ve been pretty clear on private investments.”
Notably – the Bears hadn’t issued a response as of late Sunday night – and Bears CEO Kevin Warren and Chairman George McCaskey have not been at the Illinois State Capitol this weekend.
The negotiations come as Indiana offers the Bears up to $1 billion in incentives to relocate to a site in Hammond. The Hammond location is situated just off the Skyway, basically across the street from Chicago’s Southeast Side. However, detractors said it’s too close to a superfund site and would be expensive to remediate.
However, Hammond’s Mayor Tom McDermott said, “The fact that Hammond continues to be mention in nearly every discussion shows Indiana remains a very credible alternative if Springfield cannot get a deal done before adjournment tonight.”
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