Lawmaker says Bears stadium talks are slow going amid Chicago hopes
SPRINGFIELD — A key Illinois lawmaker spearheading negotiations on laws to maintain the Chicago Bears taking part in their house video games in Illinois stated Wednesday night time he is dealing with recent opposition from some legislative colleagues who consider the group has expressed newfound openness to constructing a brand new Bears stadium in Chicago.
Democratic state Sen. Bill Cunningham of Chicago stated in an interview that he and a few legislative colleagues discovered a couple of weeks in the past that the Bears had expressed a willingness to revisit a lakefront stadium with Mayor Brandon Johnson’s workplace, earlier than the mayor’s group instructed Chicago-based officers about that dialog.
The Bears on Wednesday night time pushed again on the thought, saying in a ready assertion that the group has reiterated since September that the one web site in Cook County the group has been contemplating for its new house is in Arlington Heights, whereas the group can be contemplating a stadium proposal pitched by leaders in Indiana for a web site in Hammond.
“The team has been clear with the city of Chicago and state leaders that there are only two viable stadium locations under consideration, Arlington Heights and Hammond, and a decision is expected between the two later this spring or early summer,” the group stated within the assertion.
A consultant from Johnson’s workplace didn’t return requests for remark.
Still, Cunningham stated speak of resurrecting a Chicago stadium has created a roadblock in ongoing discussions amongst lawmakers attempting to fulfill a May 31 deadline to hammer out a deal earlier than the tip of the spring legislative session that might compel the Bears to maneuver to Arlington Heights. Cunningham stated the Chicago stadium thought has change into a catalyst for lawmakers — many from Chicago — who’ve expressed “substantial opposition” to the present negotiations over serving to the group transfer to a suburb.
This sticking level in negotiations comes a couple of weeks after Johnson and others within the metropolis administration visited Springfield and mentioned with legislators the mayor’s need to maintain the Bears in Chicago.
“But by virtue of the fact that the Bears did outreach to the city as (of) late April, that has given credence to the mayor’s claim that a lakefront site is still viable,” Cunningham stated. “That has helped him to convince Chicago legislators to move slowly, to give the city a chance to better develop a new lakefront plan and to not support the Arlington Heights site.”
Before the Bears launched their assertion Wednesday night time, Cunningham predicted the group “will still say this is a binary choice. And they will say that there is no Chicago plan, and there isn’t.”
“They happen to be right about that,” Cunningham stated. “There is no concrete plan from the city on the table right now. But by virtue of the fact that the Bears reached out to the city in recent weeks to talk about the lakefront, they have breathed life into the mayor’s efforts.”
The developments additionally come as Gov. JB Pritzker and Johnson have been bickering over the stadium deal, a mini-feud that was reignited with Johnson’s feedback throughout his Springfield go to as Pritzker has stated there isn’t a actual plan for a brand new soccer stadium in Chicago. Just Wednesday, Pritzker said he had just lately spoken with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and maintained that the Bears and NFL are solely contemplating a brand new stadium in Arlington Heights or Indiana — not Chicago.
The deal being hashed out within the state capitol largely facilities on how a lot the Bears would pay in property taxes to construct the stadium complicated on the previous Arlington International Racecourse web site. The Bears bought the positioning in early 2023. Earlier this yr, the group started publicly saying it was additionally contemplating the positioning in Hammond after Hoosier legislators and the governor of Indiana handed laws to construct a stadium there.
In the continuing Illinois legislative efforts, the Bears are looking for some $855 million in infrastructure funding, in addition to certainty over how a lot the group must pay in property taxes for the subsequent 40 years for building on the Arlington Heights web site. Lawmakers are attempting to stability these considerations as the general public has pushed again about making a gift of advantages to a multibillion-dollar sports activities franchise.
On April 22, a bill passed the House 78-32, with 10 Republicans becoming a member of the Democratic supermajority in assist, supposed to assist with the Bears’ transfer to Arlington Heights. But the Senate, since then, has recommended that the House invoice wants work and has been negotiating particulars for an modification or a brand new invoice.
Cunningham stated different obstacles he is operating into with the present negotiations embody some lawmakers not being comfy with permitting the particular funds over the 40-year interval for the Bears and the way that might influence different taxpayers. Also, the Bears have not provide you with a research to point out how visitors can be impacted across the Arlington Heights web site, he stated.
“The Bears have made a request for a substantial financial commitment from the state to fund infrastructure that would involve roads, bridges around the Arlington Heights site. We would not do that without a traffic study that would direct how those dollars should be spent,” Cunningham stated. “So the fact that is not in place yet is an obstacle from the point of view of the state, trying to develop a capital budget. It’s also created turbulence in the northwest suburbs, where we’ve been hearing from the mayors of towns that border Arlington Heights that they have not been consulted. That they have deep concerns about the effects of increased traffic on their town.”
As far as whether or not the General Assembly would be capable to iron out a deal for the Bears by May 31, Cunningham stated he and his colleagues are “going to keep working through this.”
“We’ll continue to work through these obstacles,” he stated. “The Bears are going to have to step up their efforts, have to better engage with legislators. I think those things are necessary for this to move forward.”
Tribune reporter Jake Sheridan contributed.