New ideas floated to keep Bears in Illinois; stadium in Chicago back in play?

Time is ticking for Illinois lawmakers to pass a bill aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in the state.

Sunday night is the deadline before the spring session ends for the Illinois General Assembly. The unexpected development is that Chicago could be back in play for the Bears to build a new domed stadium in the city after all.

Hope to keep the Bears in Illinois had hinged on the so-called "megaprojects bill" that would facilitate the construction of a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

By Sunday afternoon, it seemed that the magaprojects bill, which failed to garner enough support from lawmakers on Saturday, was off the table. New ideas were being floated to entice the Bears to stay in Illinois.

One idea that appeared to be gaining momentum was a plan that would allow local municipalities to set up their own stadium authority, which means Chicago could put forth a package guaranteeing the Bears the same level of property tax certainty they team would have received in Arlington Heights.

Illinois lawmakers working on the package said the stadium would be publicly owned, but privately financed.

The megaprojects bill that failed would have allowed the Bears to negotiate and lock in lower property taxes with local governments for up to 40 years. It faced opposition on both sides of the aisle in among Illinois lawmakers.

GOP legislators said they felt the only way for the legislation to be approved was to focus only on the Bears stadium and not to include language for other statewide projects.

"This is too late in the session to do a statewide megaprojects bill where you don't know what might be going in there," Illinois Senate Minority Leader Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove) said Saturday night. "This is too late in the session for that, so at this point you would be looking at just the Bears."

Democrats were worried about the impact on local tax revenue, while Chicago legislators have called for the state to leave the option open for keeping the team in the city.

This is something that the Bears recently said  is not going to happen, and that Gov. Pritzker had also ruled out. The Bears organization came out last week with a statement calling Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana, the only two sites under consideration for a new stadium.  

But on Sunday, Curran said Bears executives have actually stayed in close contact with Chicago city leaders.

"I think we're still waiting for feedback from the Bears reviewing the concept, and then from there, it really would be up to the city of Chicago and their due diligence in coming up with the most competitive site and really package development package for the Bears to consider," said Curran. "But at the end of the day, Chicago is a world-class city. So I'm sure, you know, if they had a very competitive proposal, I'm sure the Chicago Bears would strongly consider that."

Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) has been one of the lead negotiators behind the megaprojects bill.

"This proposal, or this idea, is something more narrowly tailored for Cook County, or the Bears, or Arlington Heights-focused," said Buckner. "I do believe this is a statewide issue. My colleagues around the state are asking, 'What are we doing to make sure [the Bears] stay in the state?' The details matter, and we don't have those yet."

On top of all the Bears talk, the legislature still has to pass a state budget.

The deadline is Sunday night at midnight, and that is partly why the Bears bill has not made much progress so far.

There has been some progress. Lawmakers on Saturday sent some legislation for Gov. Pritzker's signature.

Among them was property tax reform, which was praised tonight by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Treasurer Maria Pappas. Also passing was a bill to rename the Cook County portion of I-57 the Jesse L. Jackson Senior Expressway. That bill is also awaiting the governor's signature.