Illinois budget passes without Bears stadium bill, keeping Indiana in play

ILLINOIS -- Illinois lawmakers passed a state budget this week, but a bill tied to the Chicago Bears’ search for a new stadium did not make it across the finish line.

The Illinois Senate approved the stadium proposal Monday in a 37-17 vote, but the House adjourned without taking up the bill. The move leaves the Bears’ stadium future unresolved and keeps Indiana in the conversation.

The proposal would have allowed certain Cook County communities, including Chicago and Arlington Heights, to create local stadium authorities. Under the plan, the Bears would privately finance construction of a new stadium, turn it over to a public stadium authority and then lease it back.

That structure would have made the stadium exempt from property taxes, yet the team would still pay taxes on the surrounding development.

However, Illinois lawmakers did approve a $55.9 billion state budget after a marathon session in Springfield, but the stadium bill stalled before reaching a final House vote.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he does not want the team to leave the state, but he has repeatedly pushed back against using taxpayer money for a stadium project.

“You may recall the mayor of Chicago held a big press conference with the Bears announcing a $2.5 billion stadium that he had no money to pay for, so somehow that was going to have to get paid for,” Pritzker said. “The reality is I wasn’t willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayers money in order to give it to a billion dollar owned team.”

The Bears released a statement saying they will finalize their evaluation of both options and decide by late spring or early summer.

A special session could still be called in Illinois, but for now, there is no final vote and no stadium deal.