Indiana put the finishing touches on its attempt to lure the Chicago Bears to move to northwest Indiana.

The Indiana Senate approved an amended bill Thursday in order to potentially help the Bears build a stadium in Hammond. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed the bill into law soon after Thursday.

“Indiana has taken important steps over the last few months, and we are grateful for the leadership reflected by Governor Braun signing SB 27, establishing the framework for a stadium development in Northwest Indiana,” the Bears said in a statement. “We continue to work on the necessary due diligence and appreciate the ongoing engagement with Indiana state and local leaders.”

The Senate passed Senate Bill 27 with a 45-4 vote.

It would establish the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority, which could acquire and finance certain facilities and set the powers and duties of the stadium authority. Indiana lawmakers have said the Bears would build a stadium near Wolf Lake in Hammond if they move to Indiana.

[ Here’s a timeline of the Chicago Bears’ search for a new stadium ]

“I am pleased to see SEA 27 pass the Senate with bipartisan support,” Indiana state Sen. Ryan Mishler, who sponsored the bill, said. “The widespread support of the bill in both chambers shows Indiana’s commitment to the Chicago Bears, and it presents us with an opportunity to further foster our working relationship with them. I look forward to continued conversations with the Bears’ leadership team as we work to bring the Bears to Indiana.”

Thursday was an expected result as Indiana tries to lure the Bears away from Illinois. The Senate originally wrote the bill in January, and the House passed an amended version on Tuesday. The Bears confirmed their interest in northwest Indiana when a House committee passed the bill last week but have not agreed to a deal with the state.

According to the bill, the state would put in about $1 billion into the stadium through different financing methods. Indiana will issue a bond to pay for the construction, as it had for the Indianapolis Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium, which will be paid off by a 12% admission tax and a specialized tax district surrounding the stadium.

Indiana lawmakers have said they’ll also need to renegotiate their lease with the Indiana Toll Road for infrastructure improvements around the area. There likely will be taxes needed to be passed in both Lake and Porter counties to help foot the bill for construction.

The Bears have committed to paying $2 billion toward the construction of a potential stadium.

Although there were some questions about the bill, Indiana state lawmakers praised the bill and Mishler for putting it together quickly.

“We’ve got a really good final product out there,” Mishler said.

Now it’s up to the Bears on how quickly they want to move.

Mishler said there’s no timeline on how quickly the Bears need to make a decision. Some dates need to be met in terms of setting taxes. However, Mishler clarified that those could be adjusted if not met because the Bears haven’t made a decision yet.

“A lot of it depends on how soon they want to play in a new stadium,” Mishler said. “If you wait a year, you’re going to be out another year. I think it’s really, the time frame is just if they decide to do this, how soon do they want to do this, how soon do they want to be in a new stadium?”

The passage of the bill comes as the Bears continue to negotiate with Illinois lawmakers on legislation that would keep the team in Illinois. The franchise is looking for tax certainty on a 326-acre property that it owns in Arlington Heights, the site of the former Arlington Park race course.

Illinois House lawmakers made the most progress they’ve had during the process on Thursday, as well.

They moved a megaprojects bill that would give the Bears the ability to earn tax certainty by negotiating with local governments from the rules committee to the revenue committee on Thursday. The revenue committee passed the bill 13-7 but it has not yet gone up for a House floor vote. Illinois’ House members were set to leave Springfield on Thursday and won’t return until March 18.

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.

“We recognize and appreciate the advancement of mega project legislation by the Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee, and we look forward to continued engagement as the lawmakers determine the legislative path forward,” Bears said in a statement.

It’s the latest wrinkle in what’s been a long process as the Bears search for a new stadium location.

The franchise originally agreed to buy the Arlington Heights site in 2021 and officially purchased it in 2023. The Bears shifted their focus to Chicago’s lakefront under team president and CEO Kevin Warren, but brought it back to Arlington Heights over the past couple of years.

Warren widened the team’s search for a stadium to include Northwest Indiana in December after he was told by Illinois lawmakers that the Bears’ bill wouldn’t be a priority in 2026.

The Bears happened to be in Indianapolis this week for the NFL’s annual Scouting Combine. Bears general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson both met with reporters this week, but Warren and owner and chairman George McCaskey did not formally speak with reporters. Mishler said he spoke with the Bears this week about the bill.

For Mishler, Thursday wasn’t a day to prove why Indiana was better than Illinois. It was an opportunity to bring the NFL’s charter franchise’s stadium and potential development around it to his state.

“To me, this isn’t a competition with us and Illinois,” Mishler said. “The way we look at it, personally, this is something that we’ve worked out with them, we know what we have. If it’s something they want, then they’ll do it. For us, it’s not a tit for tat kind of thing.”