An Illinois House committee on Thursday advanced legislation that could give the Bears a big property tax break and clear the way to a new stadium in Arlington Heights.
The 13-7 vote of the House Revenue and Finance Committee sends the Bears-backed megaproject legislation to the House floor, but it’s unclear if the matter will get a vote before the full chamber Thursday afternoon.
Springfield lawmakers are staring down a deadline to move legislation that could keep the Bears on this side of the state line amid competing legislation in Indiana that could lure the team to a new stadium in Hammond.
A bill to create a public stadium authority in Northwest Indiana to acquire land, issue bonds, build a stadium, and lease it to the Bears is up for a concurrence vote in the Senate on Thursday afternoon. The bill sailed through the House on 95-4 vote Tuesday after an earlier version of the legislation passed the Senate 46-2 on Jan. 28.
Lawmakers in Indianapolis adjourn on Friday and plan to send their bill to Gov. Mike Braun by then. Meanwhile, Illinois’ House is set to leave Springfield on Thursday and won’t return until March 18.
The committee vote in Springfield came just after noon Thursday at the end of a nearly two-hour hearing on the megaproject bill. Versions of the legislation have stalled at the state Capitol for some four years, and the bill that came forward for debate is a combination of those proposals, said Rep. Kam Buckner, the bill sponsor.
The Chicago Democrat, who has been involved in closed-door stadium talks with Bears brass, Arlington Heights officials, and Gov. JB Pritzker’s staff, formally filed an amendment to a shell bill Wednesday night — a legislative maneuver that could allow the legislation to advance more quickly.
The measure would allow the Bears or any developer spending at least $500 million on a project statewide to negotiate tax payments directly with affected local governments. The latest proposal would expand the tax treatment to developers who invest $250 million and agree to hire 50 new full-time employees, or spend $100 million and hire 100 people.
The so-called Payments in Lieu of Taxes financing mechanism detailed in the bill would effectively give the NFL franchise a property tax break at its 326-acre property in Arlington Heights for up to 40 years by allowing the team to negotiate payment amounts directly with local taxing bodies including Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214, and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211.
Another new item in Buckner’s bill: the tax break couldn’t apply to residential property, amid questions of whether the Bears could get such a deal for their entire proposed $5 billion entertainment and mixed-use district, or just the $2 billion domed stadium.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260226/illinois-state-politics/bears-backed-megaproject-bill-advances-out-of-illinois-house-committee/