SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers were improvising a desperation heave on Sunday to entice the Chicago Bears to build a new dome in their home state instead of Indiana, as the clock ticked down on the spring legislative session in Springfield.
The morning after top stadium negotiator and South Side state Sen. Bill Cunningham made the bombshell announcement his caucus wouldn’t support megaprojects property tax-incentive legislation the team has sought for three years, officials were running a two-minute drill to come up with a completely new framework.
Sources close to the negotiations said the most promising idea was to allow municipalities to create their own stadium-financing authorities, akin to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority that funded construction of what is now Rate Field, as well as the often-ridiculed 2003 renovation of Soldier Field.
That might provide the level playing field Senate Democrats have demanded in pitting Chicago against Arlington Heights — and any other municipality that might be inclined to throw public dollars at a stadium — for the Bears new dome.
Under the proposal — which was still in flux by the hour — the land and the stadium at whatever site the team picks would be owned by the municipality, whether it’s Arlington Heights, Chicago or another suitor.
The Bears would pay to build the stadium, but be completely off the hook for property taxes. That was their main concern in advocating for the tanked megaproject legislation, which would’ve allowed them to negotiate discounted payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) in order to slash property tax bills the team has estimated would top $100 million in Arlington Heights.
It all appears to mark a rare Springfield win for Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose top adviser Jason Lee was in the Capitol at the close of session to lobby against the PILOT bill that could’ve ushered the team to the suburbs.
Representatives for the Bears had yet to comment on the Senate’s turnover near the goal line of the session, or the latest Hail Mary proposal, which would also include unspecified amounts of state funding for infrastructure around the stadium site.
Bears officials have estimated a public ask of $855 million for sewers, roads and other investments in Arlington Heights.
Gov. JB Pritzker has long championed PILOT legislation, but vehemently opposed subsidizing a privately-owned stadium for a pro sports franchise valued at $8.9 billion. He has stressed that much of the proposed infrastructure funding would be earmarked for Arlington Heights regardless of whether the Bears were at play.
The team has been adamant that their only viable destinations are the former Arlington International Race Course they bought for more than $197 million in 2023, or an area near the Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond, Indiana, which is built over an old industrial dump.
Hoosier lawmakers authorized a new stadium financing authority in February that would put $1 billion in taxpayer dollars into a stadium for the Bears, who would get to keep all revenue generated at the dome, all backed by a slew of new taxes and tolls.
Legislation had yet to emerge in the Illinois Capitol by mid-afternoon, with a key constitutional deadline approaching at midnight. Bills face a higher threshold of 60% to passage June 1 or later, but only if they are written to take effect within the following year.
Cunningham suggested stadium talks could linger into lawmakers’ fall veto session, though Bears president Kevin Warren has said they’ll name their next stadium site by “early summer.”
State Rep. Kam Buckner — whose South Side district includes Soldier Field and who sponsored PILOT legislation that easily cleared the House last month — was still holding out hope for a Caleb Williams-like comeback in the final hours of session.
“The language is what is going to drive the day when it comes to what happens here,” Buckner said. “I want to get on with this and get past this, give the Bears what they need to stay in the state. But we’ll see what happens.”