Springfield Session Ends With Bears Stadium Bill Dying in the House

The Illinois House adjourned its spring session early Monday morning without ever voting on a last-ditch bill to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois. The measure had cleared the Senate on a 37-17 vote, but House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch adjourned the chamber before the bill could come to the floor.

Welch said conversations on the Bears stadium issue would continue over the summer.

"Conversations on the Bears stadium issue would continue over the summer," Welch said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The failure marks the end of the spring legislative session in Springfield without a resolution to one of the state's most visible political fights. The Bears have been exploring moves to a 326-acre site they own in Arlington Heights or a publicly owned stadium near Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana.

Senate passed it. House never voted.

The Senate's vote came nearly four hours after the legislature's scheduled midnight adjournment. Lawmakers worked through the early morning hours of June 1 on the State Capitol floor in Springfield.

The bill would have allowed Cook County municipalities with more than 70,000 people to create stadium authorities. That mechanism would let a stadium be owned by the public but financed privately, giving the Bears property tax exemption on the facility itself.

State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, the lead Senate negotiator on the stadium issue, told reporters the legislation would put Chicago "on an equal plane" with Arlington Heights to compete for a stadium deal.

"They'd have to enter into a lease agreement, a public use agreement, a public benefit agreement, and then the locality would own the stadium," Cunningham said, according to Capitol News Illinois.

Cunningham noted the model is used around the country and at Soldier Field.

Chicago back in the mix

The bill represented a pivot from an earlier megaprojects proposal that collapsed in the waning hours of the session. That earlier version would have allowed the Bears to negotiate a lower property tax payment with local governments for up to 40 years.

Cunningham said the original bill did not have enough support, mainly due to discomfort with the large tax breaks and the desire from Chicago lawmakers to give the city a chance to retain the team.

In a surprise revelation Saturday night, Cunningham said the Bears have met "repeatedly" with the City of Chicago over the last several months about potentially staying in the city.

"I would point out, though, that it's been established that the Bears have met repeatedly with the City of Chicago over the last several months to talk about this," Cunningham said, according to Capitol News Illinois.

What happens next

Bears CEO Kevin Warren has said the team plans to decide by late spring or early summer about where it will play in the future.

Indiana lawmakers have promised more than $1 billion in public subsidies for a Bears project in Hammond. The Bears have committed $2 billion to stadium construction in both Arlington Heights and Hammond.

Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, the lead House negotiator on the megaprojects bill, told reporters he did not know the specifics of the latest proposal yet.

"I think if people can see that a plan like this is narrowly tailored, but also, as Sen. Cunningham said, it gives the ability for the city of Chicago to have a part to play in this as well, then there could be some support," Buckner said, according to Capitol News Illinois.

Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said a scaled-back bill focusing on the Bears is "the only option at this point."

The Bears have played their home games in Chicago city limits for more than 100 years.

Budget passed. Bears bill did not.

While the Bears bill died, lawmakers did pass a nearly $56 billion state budget in the early morning hours. The spending plan was approved about 3 a.m. on a 37-21 vote in the Senate and about 4 a.m. in the House on a 76-39 party-line vote.

The budget included a 3.2% cost-of-living increase for lawmakers, boosting base salaries for all 177 members of the General Assembly to $101,450.