Illinois special session possible, but lawmakers say Bears must provide specifics first
Illinois lawmakers say they're still working to keep Bears in the state
Illinois lawmakers are still in talks with the Bears about a new stadium and said a special session is still possible.
ILLINOIS - Illinois lawmakers say a special legislative session to address the Chicago Bears' stadium plans remains possible, but only if the team can present a detailed proposal and demonstrate enough support to pass it.
The backstory:
On Tuesday, Governor J.B. Pritzker said the Bears have been working with lawmakers and legislative staff as they evaluate proposals that previously passed the Illinois House and Senate.
"They've asked for advice and so our staff as well as legislators have offered that," Pritzker said. "I think they're looking at both of the bills that passed, the one in the House, the one in the Senate, hoping to put the provisions of each of those together in a form that they think will pass."
Pritzker said the Bears still need to win over lawmakers who were not supportive of previous proposals.
"They need to begin conversations with members of the legislature that they weren't able to win over before," he said.
The governor also made clear he is prepared to bring lawmakers back to Springfield if the team can put together a viable package. He also said there is a sense of urgency to keep the Bears in Illinois.
"Of course, of course. Are you kidding? We want to get it done as soon as possible," Pritzker said. "If they're able to put everything together as we hope they will, as I said, I'm willing to call a special session and so we can get a vote on it long before the veto session, if that's possible."
Lawmakers from both chambers echoed the governor's message that the Bears need to provide more specifics before legislation can advance.
State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, told FOX Chicago that lawmakers have already passed two separate frameworks that address some of the team's concerns.
"There has been one bill that has passed each of the chambers of the Illinois General Assembly, one that passed through the House, one that passed through the Senate," Cunningham said. "I don't know that the Bears have taken a clear position on either one of those bills."
Cunningham said both bills attempt to address one of the team's biggest concerns, which is property tax certainty.
"The House passed a bill that gives one of the things that Bears have been asking for to them, and that is an alternative way to pay property taxes," Cunningham said. "The Senate passed a bill that followed a public ownership model for their stadium."
State Representative Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, appeared on 104.3 The Score Tuesday morning and said lawmakers need more than broad requests from the organization.
"I think what the Bears are figuring out now is that they have to be more hands on in the conversation," Buckner said.
Buckner compared the situation to a football team asking for a quarterback without identifying which one it wants.
"It's like saying you want a quarterback, you don't have one, and you expect that you get Sid Luckman or Caleb Williams, but instead you get Cade McNown or Rusty Lisch or someone like that," Buckner said. "You got to hear from them, right? We got to hear from them about the specifics."
Cunningham said the governor's advice for the Bears to become more directly involved is warranted.
"From my standpoint, the Bears have approached this from the start as if they're waiting for someone to pick them up and put them on their shoulder and carry them across the finish line," Cunningham said.
Indiana competition unresolved:
The governor also pushed back on suggestions that Indiana has gained a significant advantage in the race to land a new Bears stadium. It comes weeks after the Bears said they were focused on a "stadium development project" in Hammond, "with a site to be selected."
Pritzker noted that Indiana lawmakers have not approved funding mechanisms that would be needed to support a stadium project.
"What I think we've all learned is that the Indiana legislature chose to do, which is to foist it all off on the counties and the cities around which the stadium that they want to have move there would be," Pritzker said.
He added that Illinois has already offered infrastructure support while avoiding tax increases.
"We don't want to raise taxes on the people of Illinois and we have offered infrastructure support, which is actually most of what the Bears have been asking for," Pritzker said. "We think we're actually as close as anybody to getting a stadium done here."
Cunningham said recent developments suggest Indiana's proposal remains uncertain.
"We've seen in just the last couple of weeks a couple of problems surface with the Indiana proposals," Cunningham said. "So I think where the Bears end up is still very much an open question."
Lawmakers also continue to question whether the Bears have settled on a final location after years of shifting between Arlington Heights, the Chicago lakefront and other possibilities.
"They've changed courses a number of times throughout the process, and that has made for a frustrating process," Cunningham said.
What's next:
We're waiting for Illinois lawmakers to present potential legislation that would keep the Bears in the state. Many have acknowledged they will not go back to Springfield, unless there's broad support to pass a bill regarding the Bears.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Bret Buganski.