Chicago Bears Stadium Bill Dies in Illinois House as Legislature Adjourns Without Answer

The Illinois House adjourned early Monday morning without voting on a last-minute bill to keep the Chicago Bears in the state, leaving the franchise's future unresolved as ownership prepares to choose between Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana.

The failure marks the end of the spring legislative session with no resolution to a stadium debate that has consumed Illinois lawmakers for three years.

The Final Play

The Illinois Senate passed a new stadium authority bill at 3:39 a.m. Monday by a vote of 37-17, hours after the legislature's scheduled midnight Sunday adjournment. The measure would have allowed Cook County municipalities with populations over 70,000 to create public stadium financing authorities, giving teams like the Bears a path to build without paying property taxes.

But the Illinois House adjourned shortly after 4:30 a.m. without taking up the measure.

"There's a lot of work still ahead of us," Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch said. "We'll continue discussions on a number of issues, including our approach to the Bears stadium question this summer."

Welch ruled out calling a special legislative session to address the unfinished business.

Bears' Response

The team issued a terse statement Monday morning:

"We will finalize our evaluation of both Arlington Heights and Hammond, and remain on the late spring/early summer timeline that we have previously communicated. We will provide an update when we have a decision to share."

The Bears purchased the 326-acre former Arlington International Race Course for more than $197 million in 2023. The team has said it would spend at least $2.5 billion of its own money on stadium construction.

What Went Wrong

The Senate's late-night bill was a replacement for a collapsed megaprojects tax-relief plan that had passed the House in April but died in the Senate after Chicago Democrats and progressives rejected property tax breaks for a franchise valued at $8.9 billion.

State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, the bill's sponsor, said the new proposal would give the Bears the "property tax certainty" they demanded without direct taxpayer subsidies.

"This gives the Bears what they were asking for, in a different form than they proposed," Cunningham said. "They put forward a proposal in which they would get a property tax break. Members of the Senate were not comfortable with that. So this is another way of giving the Bears exactly what they asked for."

But House lawmakers said they did not have enough time to review the proposal.

"The bill came over from the Senate after many of us had been up for 20 hours and it is not enough time to vet a really important bill," said Democratic state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe of Chicago. "Many of us are going to scrutinize anything that is potentially a tax giveaway to the super wealthy or big corporations, especially in this moment where the bulk of us are dealing with affordability issues."

Indiana's Offer

The legislative stalemate comes as the Bears weigh a competing offer from Indiana. Hoosier lawmakers authorized a stadium financing authority in February that would put $1 billion in taxpayer dollars into a stadium in Hammond, backed by new taxes and tolls.

Bears officials have estimated a public ask of $855 million for sewers, roads, and other infrastructure investments in Arlington Heights, though they have said most of that funding would go to the village regardless of whether the team builds there.

Chicago's Concern

Some Chicago lawmakers worried the new bill would effectively push the Bears from the city to the suburbs.

"What's even more disturbing is the way this bill was predicated on leveraging the state of Indiana," said State Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, who voted against the measure. "Congratulations, Arlington Heights Bears," Preston said.

Preston criticized the team's "lackluster involvement and philanthropy throughout the city of Chicago."

Gov. JB Pritzker's office said Monday the governor "has always wanted the Bears to remain in Illinois and been open to a sensible deal," and that his office needs to "carefully review this new bill that was recently made public overnight."

The legislature will not reconvene until the fall, leaving Bears fans and Illinois lawmakers waiting for the team's final decision.