Mixed messages? Lawmakers say Bears strategy helped kill megaprojects bill

CHICAGO - There are questions about whom to blame for why the Megaprojects Bill failed in the Illinois Legislature during the spring session. 

Some Republican lawmakers say the bill failed because of poor communication between Governor J.B. Pritzker as well as Illinois House and Senate leadership.

The backstory:

Lawmakers from both political parties acknowledge the Chicago Bears organization also deserves some of the blame. State Senator Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, spoke with Fox Chicago about the difficulties during session to get enough lawmakers to vote for the Megaprojects Bill.

"The Bears have been engaged with legislators. I will say they hired a very capable team of Springfield lobbyists. I don't know that they always took their advice," said Cunningham.

He said the process has been frustrating for several lawmakers dealing with the Bears, because they changed their focus several times between Arlington Heights and the Chicago Lakefront, which Cunningham said continued into the spring session. We asked Cunningham if he felt the Bears were being dishonest or not forthcoming during negotiations.

"I wouldn't go that far. I would say the back channel negotiations or discussions they were having with the City of Chicago created a lot of confusion, a lot of cross messaging and that was a real problem for them in Springfield," said Cunningham.

The Chicago Bears have said repeatedly that they are only choosing between two sites for their new stadium, which is Arlington Heights or Hammond, Indiana. However, Mayor Brandon Johnson's office told Fox Chicago:

"The City can confirm several recent meetings between Bears’ counsel and management and the City’s Corporation Counsel regarding terms for a new lakefront stadium in Chicago."

"That really undermined the narrative they were putting forward to legislators throughout the spring and it might have been false hope into the idea that a lakefront stadium was still possible and that had the effect of getting a lot of Chicago legislators to say 'well why would we vote for a bill that would encourage the bears to leave the city' if this is still in play," added Cunningham.

The Megaprojects Bill would have provided a property tax freeze for up to 40 years at a new Bears stadium development in Arlington Heights. The assessed value of a megaproject development, which would have to cost at least $100 million, would be frozen before construction starts. That means the amount of value the property is taxed on won’t increase, unlike other properties like homes and commercial buildings, whose values periodically get reassessed to see if they’ve increased or decreased.

The bill would also allow developers like the Bears to make "payments in lieu of taxes," often referred to as PILOT, as opposed to paying a normal property tax bill like most other property owners. The developer would be able to negotiate the amount of that payment with local taxing bodies, like local schools and governments. Any agreement would need to be approved by those local bodies.

The bill included provisions to exempt construction materials for megaprojects from the state’s sales tax of 6.25%.

The version of the bill passed by the House requires a portion of a megaproject developer’s PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) to be dedicated toward property tax relief for homeowners. This specific provision has caused concern among members of the Senate and Gov. Pritzker, at least in part because the projected amount of money individual taxpayers could receive would likely be minimal.

The bill would also expand state loan programs for municipalities wanting to make major investments in capital projects related to tourism, entertainment, and retail.

Obstacles in the Senate:

"The Bears asked for a tax break, that creates political complications," said Cunningham.

He noted there are 15 state senators and 28 state representatives who have Chicago as their home addresses. Cunningham said asking them to vote for something where a prominent business leaves their city doesn't make sense, especially for ones where lawmakers are potentially giving tax credits to leave the city. Whether it was intentional or not, Cunningham said it felt like the Bears are pitting one community against the other in Illinois.

"There's nothing right now that stops the Bears from breaking ground in Arlington Heights tomorrow," said Cunningham. "The Village of Arlington Heights has welcomed them to do that. There's no law prohibiting that. The Bears have said, however, they won't do it unless they get a tax break from Springfield, from state government. They have introduced the political complications to this scenario, not anyone else. Once you need public assistance, you have decided to make it a political problem."

Fox Chicago also with State Representative Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, who felt like the Megaprojects Bill could've passed with Republican support. However, Ugaste said Democrats did not reach across the aisle to work with them when they wanted to bring property tax protections for average Illinois families.

"The Bears bill fell apart because I believe that the leaders between the two chambers just weren't working together as well as with the governor's office," said Ugaste. "This has been going on for a couple of months now. There needed to be more communication, more work on it together, and as well bringing Republicans in on it because it seems pretty apparent to me that they've needed Republicans to help them pass this."

We asked Ugaste about the Chicago Bears presence in Springfield, and whether or not they were difficult to work with during the legislative session.

"From my perspective in looking at this, you know, a little bit of this lays with the Bears," said Ugaste. "I don't believe they've marketed it well enough. I don't believe they had enough meetings with rank and file lawmakers in order to get their point across and understanding what they're willing to do, what this means. Not just to Northeast Illinois, but all of Illinois and what a great benefit this would be for our state if we do something just to help give them some property tax certainty at a very reasonable level so that they can operate as a business."

Possibility of special session:

We asked lawmakers on both sides about the possibility of a special session.

"I think it's almost a certainty it's going to happen. I would say it's extremely likely, but you know, anything's possible," said Ugaste. "I would have thought we would have been done with this long ago, and we wouldn't even be having these conversations right now. So, you know my predictions aren't 100% here, but I am fairly well convinced we're going to be back in the summer to address this issue."

"I would never say never, but I would say it's unlikely," said Cunningham. "In order to call a special session, there need to be a couple of ingredients in place. First of all, you have to have some sort of consensus developed about what the outcome would be, what kind of legislation would come out of it. I don't know that we have that right now."

"I know that the House has said that they're going to continue to work on this over the summer, I think the question of special session is really a question for the legislators," said Gov. Pritzker.

"I already have meetings already on my schedule that is going to continue those conversations," said Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Westchester. "I'm looking forward to hearing what folks have to say, I want to hear what the Bears have to say about the proposal that came over to the house, share that information with our caucus, work with our leaders that actively involved in this process like Leader (Rep. Kam) Buckner, the work that he has put into this has been just amazing and I'm extremely appreciative of Leader Buckner and the work that he's doing on this."

The other side:

Fox Chicago reached out to the Chicago Bears about the Megaprojects Bill and the reported negotiations between the team and the City of Chicago discussing "terms for a new lakefront stadium," but we haven't heard back.

The Bears released a statement early Monday morning, saying "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."

There is still uncertainty if Illinois lawmakers will call a special session.