Illinois fumbled the ball at the goal line during the spring legislative session. All they had to do was get a revised bill through the House after the Senate passed it. Instead, they didn’t even vote on it, citing too many unknowns. Shortly after that, the Chicago Bears focused on Hammond, Indiana. They are currently inspecting multiple sites. Many feel that once they make a definitive selection, that is the whole ballgame. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has insisted he is willing to call a special session of the legislature this summer if the Bears can put forward a bill that clearly articulates what they want.
While he hasn’t personally offered solutions, other members of the government are working towards one. Two Republican state representatives have put forward alternative options they believe have a better chance of garnering more widespread support. Dan Ugaste is looking into a revised version of the megaprojects bill, which did make it through the House before dying in the Senate. Perhaps the more interesting idea comes from Martin McLaughlin. His bill is focused entirely on Arlington Heights, simplifying things to minimize uncertainty.
This is only about the Chicago Bears. Nobody else.
McLaughlin’s plan calls for allowing the Bears to spend up to $2.5 billion to build a stadium that the team would own and the state to spend $1.2 billion on infrastructure. Lawmakers had generally been considering about $800 million in infrastructure for Arlington Heights had legislation moved forward.
McLaughlin’s bill would not include the PILOT and instead would set a value for the property that would increase by 2.5% each year over a 30-year deal. McLaughlin told Capitol News Illinois it would also include an oversight committee to ensure local governments don’t shift additional taxes toward other residents and businesses.
McLaughlin said his bill would only apply to Arlington Park, calling it the only viable site for a new stadium in Illinois. He said the municipality demonstrated its ability to host large events when the former horse racing track occupied the site.
“It really answers a lot of the uncertainty questions that the Bears had and I’m hoping that it incentivizes the Bears to maybe rethink Illinois because I think we made the deal too complex,” he said.
This proposal does something crucial.
Part of the problem with the original megaprojects bill, according to several government officials, was that it didn’t adequately protect all taxpayers from exploitation. Pritzker has said on several occasions that he will not allow taxpayer money to be used to supplement projects for billionaires. This proposal from McLaughlin furthers the approach the Senate started in May, narrowing the focus from the entire state to just the Bears. Give them something to work with in Arlington Heights.
This seems like the best way for all sides to get what they want. Most taxpayers are protected from property tax hikes. The Bears get the green light to negotiate them in Arlington. It feels like the sticking point will be infrastructure support. There is no way around it. Illinois will have to help with that if any such project can work without creating chaos. That is why the $1.2 billion idea may not fly in Springfield. However, the good news is that such things can be negotiated.
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Everything depends on urgency.
The Chicago Bears have operated as if they’re desperate to get this thing done. Yet their actions don’t indicate as much. For one, they haven’t even applied to do environmental studies at the two potential sites in Hammond. This is unusual, as both present issues with federally protected local wetlands. If they were dead set on getting shovels in the ground this year, then that seems like something they’d want to fast-track. Instead, every indication is that their announcement of a focus shift was nothing more than a leverage play to force Springfield into addressing the issue.
Reactions from individuals like McLaughlin would suggest it is working, at least to a degree. The problem is that they need several more votes before anything can get done. It’s been demonstrated several times that the Bears don’t have the ability to navigate the complicated situation down there. Hence, they push, pull, headfake, and threaten because they have no idea how to do anything else.
