‘I don’t trust anything the Bears have to say’: Lawmakers on whether it’s too late to keep team in Illinois – Shaw Local

In a press briefing Thursday, Chicago Bears team owner and chairman George McCaskey and president and CEO Kevin Warren announced the organization’s sole focus is to build a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana.

The announcement comes weeks after the Illinois legislature failed to pass legislation that could help the Bears build a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

In separate bills, the Illinois House and Senate each introduced their own legislative proposals, but neither passed the other chamber.

State legislators from northern Illinois are split, even within the same party, on whether the General Assembly should put still try to together a package of property tax and other concessions to keep the team in Illinois.

State Rep. Jeff Keicher, a Sycamore Republican, said Illinois leaders have spent too much time finger-pointing instead of working to keep the Bears in Illinois with a deal for an Arlington Heights stadium.

“The largest single private investment opportunity in Illinois history is on the table. A $3-to-$5 billion stadium and entertainment district. Thousands of construction jobs; a generational anchor for the northwest suburbs,” Keicher said.

Some state lawmakers believe that even if the Bears move to northwest Indiana, Illinois will reap the economic benefits, particularly in under-developed parts of southern Cook County.

“In a regional perspective, we have a lot to gain,” said Democrat State Rep. Suzanne Ness of Crystal Lake. Fans going to games will still fly into O’Hare, stay in Illinois hotels and travel on our roads.

“I don’t see them partying in Indiana” following a game or event, Ness said. “They will come back to Chicago.”

Hammond, she said, would also need to build out the public transit infrastructure to the site, and Illinois residents would benefit.

State Rep. Steve Reick, a Woodstock Republican, is on the same side of the aisle as Keicher, but disagrees that the team owners should get anything from Illinois to keep the team in the state.

If they announce they are leaving the state, Illinois should let them go, Reick said, but added he thinks Thursday’s announcement is a tactic.

“Until a shovel is in the ground, I don’t trust anything the Bears have to say on all of this,” Reick said. “All they are doing is trying to pit both sides against the middle and see if we will blink. I am not willing to give them a brass farthing, as they used to say.”

State Sen. Laura Murphy, a Democrat from northwest suburban Des Plaines, close to Arlington Heights, said her constituents, to one, told her, “We are not giving additional money to billionaires,” she said.

She also doesn’t see Thursday’s announcement as final.

“Until the Bears make a formal announcement that they have made a decision,” it is still unknown if the stadium will be in Arlington Heights, Chicago or Hammond, Murphy said.

Still, she would like to see the Bears stay, and said Illinois has provided a way for them to do that.

Republican State Sen. Don DeWitte of St. Charles called the argument against using public dollars “vapid” as it does not take into account the economic development that would come with a modern stadium and infrastructure investment.

A modern, domed stadium would not just host home games during the football season, but events throughout the year, DeWitte said.

Keicher agreed, saying he does not see the Bears stadium as a “binary choice between economic development and taxpayer protection. It is a requirement to deliver both. And right now, while Indiana moves with discipline, Illinois is busy explaining why it’s the other guy’s fault,” Keicher said.

State Rep. Martin McLaughlin, a Barrington Hills Republican, said House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch should call lawmakers back to Springfield to get a deal passed that would keep the Bears in Illinois, if not Chicago.

McLaughlin pointed to legislation he proposed in June, suggesting the Bears agree to up to $2.5 billion in investment from the organization and private development partners and $1.2 billion in state-supported infrastructure investment, including transportation.

McLaughlin’s proposal also asks for accountability provisions in any legislation, ensuring commitments are met on both sides and creating safeguards to protect taxpayers.

Gov. JB Pritzker has also adopted some of that language in his appearances, McLaughlin said.

What the Bears organization needs, he added, are guarantees from the state for the next 30 years so that it can find those investors – which is why Indiana is enticing, according to McLaughlin.

If the state can give economic incentives to manufacturers and data centers, McLaughlin said, it can provide incentives to the Bears.