Reports say the Bears and lawmakers in Illinois are closer to deal for a stadium
According to a FOX32 report on Monday, the Chicago Bears and Illinois lawmakers are working on a deal to keep the Bears in Illinois, specifically in Arlington Heights.
Kevin Warren and the Bears turned the heat up on J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois legislature with its very real flirtation with northwest Indiana.
But Paris Schutz of FOX32 Chicago reports lawmakers and Warren are much closer to a deal.
Pritzker and leading lawmakers are on board with the public infrastructure package for the Arlington Heights site, as well as the PILOT legislation that would allow the team to negotiate property taxes with the village.
Work is also being done to ensure “ticket price affordability” for games and events, the article says.
The article says Pritzker talked about progress during an unrelated event downstate.
“The most important point I would make is we’re not going to do anything that’s bad for the taxpayers. We are helping businesses build infrastructure…and other things that are available to any business that’s growing or building something new in the state of Illinois that’s putting people to work. Those are normal inventives, and that’s what I’d expect we’ll end up with for the Bears.”
Illinois Representative Kam Buckner has opposed any public funding, but says in the report that they’re not changing course because of Indiana.
“We are not in competition with Indiana. What we’re doing is having the conversations to fine-tune what needs to happen in order to get a deal in that state that works for everybody.”
It’s one of the most promising updates in the “will-they, won’t-they” saga for the Bears and their stadium. The article says the deadline is due to Indiana’s legislature wrapping up on Feb. 27. Indiana’s quick formation of a stadium authority to negotiate with the Bears on a site in Hammond’s Wolf Lake area has brought Illinois’s lawmakers back to the table.
Stay tuned…
Category: General Sports
