Bears bill heads to May 31, Johnson support frays

Bears bill – A bill aimed at keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois is facing mounting resistance in Springfield, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson pulling in different directions and concerns growing over traffic impacts and the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes mec

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s last-minute push to keep the Chicago Bears from leaving the city has started to undercut support for an essential mega-projects proposal, the bill’s top Senate sponsor said Thursday.

The plan is now tangled in multiple obstacles at once: lawmakers are bracing for traffic concerns near an Arlington Heights stadium. they are weighing how a payment in lieu of taxes system could affect local property taxpayers. and friction between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Johnson over where the stadium should be built is complicating the path forward.

There are just 10 days left before state legislators are scheduled to adjourn for the spring session. May 31 is a crucial deadline for a bill the Bears say they absolutely need to consider keeping the franchise from crossing state lines to Hammond, Indiana.

The turmoil has also spilled into the public debate. Last week. a top Johnson aide. Jason Lee. told the Sun-Times that “there’s a lot more shoes left to drop” about whether Chicago is still in play. Lee said the team had “sensitive conversations” with the mayor’s office, but did not provide details. The Bears quickly rejected the implication.

In a statement Thursday. the team reiterated that there are only “two viable stadium locations under consideration — Arlington Heights and Hammond.” The Bears added that “Chicago is not a viable site. ” saying they have “exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago. ” and that “there is not a viable site in the city.”.

The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also declared this week that the team is leaving Chicago.

Pritzker, meanwhile, is focused exclusively on the Arlington Heights bid, and state Sen. Bill Cunningham described the widening split as damaging at a time when time is running out.

Cunningham, who is leading the bill, said Johnson’s push is “breathed life into the mayor’s claim that Chicago still has a chance.” Cunningham added that “the Bears, of course, say that isn’t true,” and he said he believes the Bears.

But Cunningham also argued that Johnson has been given a “prime card” that lawmakers are now wrestling with in real time. He said opposition from Chicago legislators has “intensified. ” with legislators viewing hope for the team to stay in Chicago as a reason to step up pressure against the Arlington Heights proposal.

He said outreach by the Bears about a month ago has helped the mayor persuade Chicago members not to vote for the Arlington Heights plan, but the sponsor acknowledged the political atmosphere has shifted again.

Beyond the politics, Cunningham pointed to a second major problem tied directly to how lawmakers would be asked to fund infrastructure.

The Bears are pursuing a sizable commitment from the state for infrastructure upgrades in and around Arlington Heights. Cunningham said there is no traffic study in place for the communities that would be affected by a new stadium. and he warned lawmakers can’t appropriate state funds without clarity on what the money will actually cover.

“We can’t appropriate state funds without some idea of how exactly they’re going to be spent for those purposes without a traffic study. ” Cunningham said. “You just don’t do that with large developments like that. and the fact that there isn’t a traffic study has caused turbulence in the northwestern suburbs. … They have not been given the seat at the table.”.

He also said other legislators are objecting to what he called a “general lack of comfort” with the payment in lieu of taxes mechanism.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty that is embedded in the mechanics in that we don’t know what the payment in lieu of taxes would be to the taxing districts. and there are some concerns about whether or not that will have an effect on property taxpayers in the area where the mega-project is placed. ” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said support had been building when the stadium locations were down to Arlington Heights and Hammond. But as rumors and talk about Chicago re-entered the debate—despite the Bears’ insistence there are only “two viable” sites—he said the coalition has splintered.

He said he is taking the Bears’ threat to move to Hammond seriously and doesn’t view it as a bluff. He stopped short of blaming Johnson if the bill fails to pass by adjournment and the Bears ultimately leave the state, saying the burden rests with the team.

“The Bears need to step up their game. It’s ultimately up to them to get 60 votes in the House and 30 in the Senate that are required to pass this bill, and they’re going to need to do that in the next 10 days,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham also drew a sharp contrast between the political unity that helped lawmakers pass earlier stadium deals and the lack of that alignment now.

He pointed out that the governor and mayor were in lockstep when two major stadium deals moved forward in Springfield: in 1988 for the Chicago White Sox and in 2000 for the Soldier Field renovation.

“The governor and the mayor were working together, pulling from the same side of the rope. That is not the case right now,” Cunningham said. He added, “Absent that, it’s very difficult to pass a bill.”

The dispute is not only about where the stadium should be built—it is also about how the negotiations unfolded inside Chicago. A source close to the negotiations questioned the Bears’ conversations with Johnson’s office. saying the team went to city attorneys to discuss lease parameters of Soldier Field. not to reengage around a lakefront proposal.

A source in the mayor’s office contested that characterization. saying there have been multiple meetings with the Bears since April. The lease was discussed during one meeting. the mayor’s office said. but it has “since evolved to a new lakefront stadium.” The office did not disclose when the lakefront stadium was last discussed.

The mayor’s office said in a statement that the “several recent meetings” included talk about “terms” for a new lakefront stadium.

That sequence of disputes—and the scramble to translate them into votes—has left the bill hanging over the spring session like a countdown. And with May 31 approaching. the question now is whether the Bears can gather enough support before the legislature adjourns. even as Johnson’s effort continues to ripple through Springfield’s decision-making.

Chicago Bears Arlington Heights stadium Hammond Indiana Brandon Johnson J.B. Pritzker Bill Cunningham Springfield Illinois legislature payment in lieu of taxes traffic study Soldier Field lakefront proposal