Illinois House Punts Bears Stadium Talks

The Illinois House knelt out the clock and headed to overtime early on Monday, neglecting to pass a bill that might allure the Chicago Bears to stay in Illinois.

Not passing the bill sent the prospect of a new Bears stadium back into limbo as Chicago’s NFL team weighs packing its bags and moving a state over. The bill would have given the Bears what they’ve said they wanted: property tax breaks and a public-private ownership deal. Illinois senators passed the bill, but their colleagues in the house didn’t take a vote.

House Speaker Emanuel Welch said talks about the Bears’ new stadium plans would continue over the summer, according to the Chicago Tribune. The publication went on to add that several house lawmakers said there was a lack of time to study the proposal, which was filed Sunday night. The Bears already have an offer in hand from Indiana to construct a stadium with taxpayer funds in that state’s southeastern Chicago suburbs.

Punting on the proposal might spell the end of the Bears’ time in Chicago. In a team statement, the Bears said they will “finalize our evaluation of both Arlington Heights and Hammond, and remain on the late spring/early summer timeline that we have previously communicated.”

Indiana’s offer is simple: a bond-financed stadium near Wolf Lake in Hammond, just outside of Gary. A bond-financing authority would acquire the land and collect local tax revenue, and the Bears would in turn put $2 billion towards construction costs. In February, the Bears called it “the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date,” later citing ongoing negotiations. The new stadium, if built in Indiana, would be across state lines, but only 20 minutes from the old Soldier Field in Chicago on Lake Michigan.

Until the Illinois House makes a decision, Chicago’s drive to keep the Bears in Illinois remains stalled.

— Hunter Cooke