Bears Bill Clears House, Bears Want Changes in Senate
Chicago Bears chairman and controlling owner George McCaskey.
After days of amendments and arm twisting, the Illinois House advanced legislation Wednesday night to give the Chicago Bears a significant property tax break for a new stadium in Arlington Heights and to encourage other “megaproject” developments in the state.
But, almost immediately, it became clear the neither the Bears, the Governor, or the Senate were fully on board with the legislation passed by the House.
The Bears issued a statement shortly after the vote claiming the team wants changes to the bill in the Senate:
“We welcome the progress made on the House’s version of the mega project bill; however, additional amendments are necessary to make the Arlington Heights site feasible for our stadium project. We support Illinois leaders as they determine the path forward to making the essential changes to the mega project bill and aligning on infrastructure funding.”
Governor JB Pritzker’s office also issued a statement after the vote:
“Governor Pritzker has been clear and consistent for years that the Bears should remain in Illinois, and that any legislation needs to protect taxpayers. Throughout the past few months, the Governor’s Office brought team leadership, local officials, and legislative partners to the table to craft a deal around public infrastructure improvements, property tax fairness, and affordability measures. Today is an important step, and the Governor’s Office looks forward to working with the Illinois General Assembly to advance a bill that reflects our shared priorities.”
One statehouse insider texted about the statements “I’ve never seen more blatant ‘let’s fix it in the Senate’ energy.
“We’ll fix it in the Senate” is a long-running trope among statehouse insiders that unfinished House bills get pushed into the Senate for amendments and further negotiations.
But what awaits the megaprojects bill in the Senate? When asked about the potential legislation last week (before the final bill was introduced), Senate President Don Harmon said it would be difficult to give the team a property tax break without significant property tax relief for homeowners.
“I understand why someone wanting to invest billions of dollars in Illinois would like property tax certainty,” Harmon said. “At the same time, we all represent a lot of folks who live in bungalows who have no property tax certainty. I don’t know how we reconcile those two right at the moment.”
Harmon was asked if property tax relief for homeowners should be tied to a Bears stadium deal.
“Those are two enormous issues and I’m not sure how you tie them together,” he said.
A Harmon spokesman would only say Wednesday night that “we look forward to reviewing the proposal.”
A Senate source told The Illinoize, though, that it’s “back to the drawing board” for the legislation in the upper chamber.
“I think you’re going to see the extras thrown onto the House bill stripped out of any Senate legislation and it’ll be left up to the House to decide whether the Bears stay or go,” the source said.
It isn’t clear when, or if, the Senate will make public movement on the Bears legislation, but one source suggested it wouldn’t be next week when the Senate returns to Springfield. That would push the saga into May, which is traditionally dominated by end-of-session bills and a state budget.
“The question becomes ‘how long do the Bears wait for us?” one longtime lobbyist texted Thursday night. “Maybe they just decide to take the $1 billion (proposed by Indiana lawmakers for a new stadium) and head to Hammond.”
