The Chicago Bears have released a statement after the Illinois legislature passed a new $55.9 billion budget without a stadium bill, despite a last-ditch effort from the Senate to keep the team in the state.
“We will finalize our evaluation of both Arlington Heights and Hammond, and remain on the late spring/early summer timeline that we have previously communicated,” the statement said. “We will provide an update when we have a decision to share.”
The statement comes hours after Sunday’s budget deadline of midnight, with lawmakers scrambling to find a path forward to keep the team from moving to Indiana. About 4 a.m. Monday, the Illinois Senate voted 37-17 to approve a modified bill that would enable certain Cook County municipalities to create local stadium authorities.
The House, however, did not take up a vote on the bill, the legislative session adjourned. It wasn’t immediately clear if or when a special session would be called.
“There’s a lot of work still ahead of us,” House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch said. “We’ll continue discussions on a number of issues, including our approach to the Bears stadium question, this summer.”
Gov. JB Pritzker’s office also released a statement regarding the Bears bill.
“Governor Pritzker is a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars who has always wanted the Bears to remain in Illinois and been open to a sensible deal, so the Governor’s Office needs to carefully review this new bill that was recently made public overnight,” it said.
As the full budget heads to Pritzker’s desk, here’s what to know about the latest Bears stadium bill passed by the Senate, and what it includes.
As a midnight deadline neared, NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern explained how the major decision affects those in power—and what’s at stake if the Bears leave Illinois.
What the Illinois Senates’ new Chicago Bears stadium bill says
The brand new bill emerged late on Sunday following a lengthy day of backroom meetings, committee hearings and legislative debates.
Gone is the earlier PILOT concept, which would have given the Bears the ability to negotiate a payment in lieu of property taxes – potentially saving the team upwards of a billion dollars. The plan effectively died due to the strong opposition of some Democratic state senators from Chicago.
At the center of the new proposal is a publicly-owned stadium – like Soldier Field – and similar to what’s being offered in northwest Indiana. Here’s how it would work:
The Bears would be required to finance the construction of the stadium on their own, but then they would turn it over to a new municipal stadium authority, which would lease the stadium.
There’s a reason for that: a public building would pay zero in property taxes, giving them the property tax certainty they’re seeking. However, the team would have to pay property taxes on the rest of the development.
The bill would narrowly apply to municipalities in Cook County with a population of 70,000 or more – including Arlington Heights and Chicago – and potentially a few more if they choose to jump in.
Under the legislation, the stadium authority would be able to issue long-term bonds of up to 40 years for stadium construction, infrastructure and renovations. A professional team must commit to a lease of 35 years before bonds can be issued. Along with being fully exempt from property taxes, bonds and interest would be exempt from Illinois income tax.
The measure also establishes a STAR Bond District for retail and entertainment development within one mile of the stadium site, allowing for state sales tax growth to help fund the project, according to the bill. The stadium authority would be granted broad powers including the use of eminent domain to acquire property, the ability to collect revenue for leases, concessions and contracts and the authority to enforce leases, contracts and property agreements.
Cities would have five years to establish a municipal stadium authority.
The house sponsor of the original “megaprojects” bill said he’s open to it, while Illinois Sen. Bill Cunningham, the senate sponsor, said the model has proven to work.
At around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Cunningham, the Bears’ “megaprojects” bill senate sponsor, 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 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.
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.
NBC 5’s Paris Schutz, Matt Stefanski and Francie Swidler contributed to this story.
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