SPRINGFIELD – State Sen. Bill Cunningham stepped out of a two-hour private Democratic caucus meeting and delivered a bombshell Saturday night: A PILOT bill aimed at keeping the Bears in Illinois is off the table and the city of Chicago is back in the mix.
Cunningham, a top negotiator on legislation aimed at giving the Chicago Bears tax certainty so they could move to suburban Arlington Heights, acknowledged the proposal “does not have the support to pass” the Illinois Senate. Chicago-based lawmakers want to “put the city on an equal plane” to “compete” for a stadium project.
“I would say that the PILOT megaproject structure is one we’re having difficulty with and we’re trying to figure out if there’s another way to make sure the Bears build a stadium in Illinois without using that model,” Cunningham said.
He also pushed back on the accepted narrative that the Bears had ruled out the city and had little dialogue with its officials — statements the Bears themselves have made within the last few weeks.
“I would point out, though, that it’s been established that the Bears have met repeatedly with the City of Chicago over the last several months to talk about this,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about a Chicago stadium being off the table. “So although they publicly said that, there have been talks between the City and the Bears.”
They’re debating a plan in which “the city, Arlington Heights, and maybe other municipalities would be on equal footing to compete for the stadium.”
It was previously thought that if Illinois lawmakers don’t approve a mechanism to assist the team’s desired move to a 326-acre site they own in Arlington Heights, the “pride and joy of Illinois” would bolt for a site in Hammond, Indiana. Hoosier lawmakers have promised more than $1 billion in public subsidies for a Bears project.
Now, the calculus seems to have changed.
Cunningham said they hope to have a bill filed on Sunday ironing out the fine points. It’s the final scheduled day of lawmakers’ spring legislative session, but, Cunningham said, “I don’t know that it’s a deadline.”
Lawmakers could theoretically work into the summer if the team isn’t itching to skip the state line. The May 31 deadline only ups the voting requirement for a bill to take effect before June 1 of next year. With the new stadium a long-term play, working into June or later wouldn’t greatly change the political equation.
Bears CEO Kevin Warren has said the team plans to decide by late spring or early summer about where it will play in the future.
“We would like to get something completed before we leave town tomorrow night,” Cunningham said.
A source close to negotiations said the new legislation will feature a similar incentive offering the Bears “tax certainty” and that it would also include funding for infrastructure surrounding a stadium development. The source said Pritzker and Deputy Gov. Andy Manar offered new ideas in a meeting earlier Saturday with Cunningham and Rep. Kam Buckner, the Chicago Democrats leading negotiations in the legislature.
The team has not sought public funds for stadium construction in Illinois but has pushed for a mechanism that would allow them to negotiate and lock in a lower property tax payment with local governing bodies for up to 40 years.
But the legislation has run into numerous roadblocks in multiple directions, including progressive lawmakers concerned about giving tax breaks to wealthy sports team owners; legislators worried about the impact the tool would have on local tax revenue; and Chicago legislators wary of incentivizing the team’s exit from the city.
“From day one, there has always been a Chicago problem with the Bears proposal,” Cunningham acknowledged.
To secure the votes it needed to pass the House last month, the megaprojects bill was loaded with sweeteners for Chicago and downstate economic development. There’s also been talk of appropriating state capital funds to renovate Soldier Field.
But the team’s reengagement — or at least the appearance of it — along with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s vocal opposition to the legislation appears to have swayed enough Chicago legislators to pull off the bill.
The megaprojects bill had been in a holding pattern for weeks as negotiators worked to fine tune a proposal that could satisfy enough legislators. To this point, they haven’t been successful. But now their biggest enemy may be the clock.
Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, earlier in the day said that a scaled-back bill focusing on the Bears is “the only option at this point.”
“This is too late in the session to do a statewide megaprojects bill where you don’t know what might be going in there,” Curran said.
Hours later, Cunningham confirmed the shift in strategy: “We’re primarily focused on the Bears.”
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