OUR SUMMARY: Standing outside Soldier Field wearing Bears jerseys, Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey and running mate Aaron Del Mar on Friday unveiled their eight-pronged “I-Formation” plan for keeping the NFL’s founding franchise in Illinois.
The “I” is a double entendre, of course referencing the offensive alignment of a quarterback under center with a full back and running back directly behind him. But in this case, it also stands for Bailey’s principles on a Bears stadium plan: “Illinois Infrastructure and Investment.”
I-FORMATION: Here’s Bailey’s plan, point-by-point, as delivered by Del Mar on Friday.
- The Bears will choose a “legitimate Illinois location,” including either the 326-acre site they own in suburban Arlington Heights as well as the city.
- The Bears will finance the stadium: “The Bears, not the taxpayers, will be responsible for state and construction cost overruns, operating losses, and routine maintenance. There’ll be no state guarantee of the Bears stadium debt. There’ll be no raid on education. There’ll be no raid on pensions or public safety. There’ll be no statewide tax increase to build the stadium,” Del Mar said.
- The team will have access to up to $800 million in infrastructure revenue bonds: “These will not be general fund obligations. The debt service will be paid over time using revenue generated by the stadium, surrounding development, not through statewide income tax increases, higher property taxes on Illinois families,” Del Mar said.
- The state will establish a designated stadium tourism district surrounding the venue and its associated hotels, restaurants, retail and residential properties. Del Mar said it will generate revenue through stadium ticket sales, a supplemental hotel tax within the district, special event fees, parking, rideshare fees, entertainment taxes, the district sales tax surcharge or incremental taxes generated by the new development. If district revenues cannot support the bonds, it would be reduced or a larger private contribution would be required.
- The Bears will get property tax certainty, “but not a tax holiday”: “The Bears will make a fixed-base property tax payment or equivalent payment in lieu of taxes, established when the agreement is signed. The payment will increase annually based on consumer price index or on inflation levels,” Del Mar said.
- The construction will be governed by project labor agreements, with “measurable goals for veterans, minorities, women, and residents of the surrounding community,” Del Mar said.
- The proposal would mandate transparency in district revenue, including paying down debt at Soldier Field and a statewide revenue-sharing phase once bonds are paid. “Every municipality in Illinois will receive a fair share based on population, not political connections, legislative districts, or which party controls Springfield,” Del Mar said.
- The taxpayers would be protected: “There will be an independent feasibility study before the bonds are issued, conservative revenue projections, mandatory debt service reserves, independent audits, and complete public disclosure,” Del Mar said. The team would also be required to make a 40-year commitment to stay in Illinois.
Bailey and Del Mar called on Gov. JB Pritzker to call lawmakers back to Springfield as early as this week.
WHY IT MATTERS: Bailey, a downstate farmer, has sought to curry favor with voters in the Chicago region throughout this cycle. He moved to Chicago, has shown up at Bulls and Sox games and has tried to otherwise be visible in a region that rejected him four years ago. And what better way to do so than pitch a plan to keep Illinois’ “pride and joy” from bolting across the state line to Indiana?
It’s an opening for Bailey due to Pritzker and the Democratic supermajority’s failure to get stadium legislation across the finish line this spring. But it’s also a tightrope. Bailey has campaigned as fiscal conservative and taxpayer watchdog. In that sense, any plan to keep the Bears can’t appear to be a giveaway at the expense of local property taxpayers.
Bailey’s plan attempts to accomplish this with an annual PILOT tied to inflation, the designation of a stadium district where certain revenues generated within would go towards paying down infrastructure bonds and existing Soldier Field debt, and building in safeguards to ensure that the Bears, not taxpayers, are on the hook for cost overruns.
BE REAL: There’s little-to-no chance Pritzker calls lawmakers back to Springfield for a special session to take up Bears legislation. Any action likely comes during the fall veto session or lame duck session. As we reported last week, some conversations continue to happen in the background.
Some of the planks in Bailey’s plan, meanwhile, have run into opposition, such as the fixed property tax payment, or PILOT, provision.
And while legislative Republicans have been included in some meetings with Bears stadium negotiators, they’ve largely been shut out of the process. Unless Bailey wins, his proposal is just that, a proposal.
But if Pritzker wants it, Del Mar said, he can have it: “You want to change it to JB Pritzker’s plan. Here, I’ll give it to you. You can take credit. Just get it done,” Del Mar said.
