In dueling appearances Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker and his Republican rival in the Nov. 3 election, Darren Bailey, outlined fixes for legislation intended to anchor the Chicago Bears in Illinois.
“There is a need for speed here,” Pritzker said at an event in Evanston. “We need to move somewhat expeditiously. I realize the Senate has some work to do, and there will be amendments, no doubt about it.”
Meanwhile, Bailey lambasted a Wednesday House vote approving a megaproject bill enabling a new Bears stadium at the vacated Arlington Park racecourse site during a news conference supporting Illinois State University workers on strike.
“This plan that’s out there right now, it’s way too hastily planned,” said Bailey, a Xenia farmer and businessman. “I would never support a plan that didn’t give our people some tax relief.”
A major element of the legislation would allow the Bears or other developers of megaprojects to negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes directly with local taxing bodies.
The measure also would require half of the payments to be steered toward property tax rebates for people living in the megaproject area, as well as statewide property tax relief.
The House bill, which was finalized in the 11th hour, now goes to the Senate, where Pritzker predicted tweaks.
“That bill went from 30 pages to 300-and-some pages in the House,” Pritzker said. “Much of it, by the way, makes a lot of sense. Some of it, I think, for the Bears didn’t make sense.”
For example, the Chicago Democrat cited an amusement tax. “Obviously that’s something that they (the team) didn’t expect. (They) don’t believe that it’s a good thing for Bears fans or for the Bears stadium,” Pritzker said.
Indiana has dangled up to $1 billion in public funding to attract the Bears from Chicago’s Soldier Field to Hammond.
Meanwhile, Arlington Heights-area governments that want the team to come to the suburbs also worry about the state granting exorbitant property tax breaks that will devastate their budgets.
“We’re obviously trying to keep the Bears in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker told reporters. “I also want to remind you that this bill wasn’t about the Chicago Bears alone. This bill is about economic development broadly for the state.”
During an appearance at ISU in Normal where AFSCME Local 1110 workers are on strike, Bailey criticized the university, spoke about an “affordability crisis“ in Illinois, and took questions on the Bears.
The conservative former state senator accused Pritzker of “misspending” millions of dollars in COVID-19 funds while “Indiana managed it and spent it correctly. That’s why Indiana is in the driver’s seat to be able to consider luring the Bears to Indiana,” Bailey contended.
The House bill is “only going to increase the costs for the people of Illinois,” Bailey said.
Pritzker noted, “from the very beginning and all along here, my No. 1 consideration is what’s best for the taxpayers of Illinois.”
ISU officials said they couldn’t speak to Bailey’s specific comments Friday.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260424/illinois-state-politics/a-need-for-speed-pritzker-backs-bears-bill-with-caveats-as-gop-rival-bailey-blasts-it/