Bears Effort to Move to Arlington Heights Faces Tough Road
Soldier Field in downtown Chicago.
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As top brass for the Chicago Bears said late last week the General Assembly needs to pass legislation helping the team develop a new stadium in suburban Arlington Heights before the team can move forward with the development.
“It’s on us to convince the governor and the state legislators that this is a good idea for the people of Illinois, and we need to do a better job at that,” said Bears President George McCaskey, addressing reporters after training camp Friday afternoon at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, according to the Daily Herald.
But the legislation, which would provide tax breaks for so-called “megaprojects” called Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, still faces an uphill battle in the General Assembly.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), a former college football player who represents the Bears current stadium, Soldier Field, says many Chicago Democrats would have a difficult time supporting a bill that helps the Bears move out of the City of Chicago.
“It's tough for a lot of folks. It's a nonstarter for others,” Buckner said. “I refuse to just kind of lay down and be a part of a Chicago delegation that writes the the the ticket to remove the Bears from Chicago. I think there's a lot of conversations that need to be had around the future of Soldier Field.”
Governor JB Pritzker echoed previous comments Monday that the state shouldn’t be involved in economic issues to help the Bears.
“They’re a private business. They can choose to do what they like with their business,” Pritzker said Monday at an unrelated event. “I do not think that the taxpayers of the state of Illinois should be propping up what now is an $8.5 billion valued business. They seem to be doing ok for themselves.”
Buckner was critical of the Bears’ changing plans from buying land in Arlington Heights to asking taxpayers for $1.5 billion for a new stadium on the lakefront, back to the Arlington Heights project.
“They've been unclear at best, or dishonest at worst,” Buckner said. “It's hard for me to keep up with where they are and what they're doing even now, as they talk about this as an economic engine and job growth, even though the numbers they're throwing out here, I think are bulls**t. I just wish they would have a more open conversation with the people.”
Buckner is expected to publish an op-ed in Tuesday’s Chicago Tribune calling for Bears Chairman and controlling owner George McCaskey to testify in front of lawmakers about any Bears project and to hold individual meetings with lawmakers during veto session.
The PILOT bill would allow the Bears to receive a discount on property taxes for the project and provide a set tax payment to local taxing bodies like schools and municipalities. It is an issue that has been raised by business groups to help promote large-scale manufacturing and developments to locate in Illinois.
“It applies to much more than just the Chicago Bears. It isn’t about the Chicago Bears, there are a whole lot of places where there can be benefit,” Pritzker said. “So we’re going to evaluate what the costs are for the people of Illinois to do this, the benefits that come from attracting businesses as a result of providing that ability to use those tax dollars.”
But lawmakers are skeptical, as Buckner described the relationship between lawmakers and the Bears as “in very bad shape.”
But the issue shouldn’t be ruled out.
In the end, though, Pritzker didn’t rule the issue out, claiming it is “something that we’re considering.”
