‘We’ve got limited time’: Bears legislation advances in Springfield as Indiana governor signs bill

An Illinois House committee Thursday advanced legislation that could give the Bears a big property tax break and clear the way for a new stadium in Arlington Heights, despite questions over the bill’s prospects in the legislature as a whole.

Hours later, competing legislation to lure the Bears across state lines passed the Indiana Senate and was signed by Gov. Mike Braun.

In Springfield, the 13-7 vote along party lines in the Democratic-led Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee sent the Bears-backed megaproject legislation to the full House. But amid questions and concerns from both sides of the aisle, the House later adjourned without the bill getting a vote on the chamber floor.

Illinois lawmakers were staring down a deadline to move legislation that could keep the Bears in the Land of Lincoln amid competing legislation in Indiana that could lure the team to Hammond.

Indiana’s bill creates a public stadium authority in Northwest Indiana to acquire land, issue bonds, build a stadium, and lease it to the Bears for at least 35 years.

Meanwhile, members of the Illinois House won’t return until March 18, though their counterparts in the Senate remain in session.

The committee vote in Springfield came just after noon Thursday at the end of lengthy hearing on the megaproject bill. Versions of the legislation have stalled at the state Capitol for some four years, and the bill that came forward for debate is a combination of those proposals, said Rep. Kam Buckner, the bill sponsor.

The Chicago Democrat, who has been involved in closed-door stadium talks with Bears brass, Arlington Heights officials and Gov. JB Pritzker’s staff, formally filed an amendment to a shell bill Wednesday night — a legislative maneuver that would allow the legislation to advance quicker.

But the committee discussion showed a Bears stadium deal is still far from the end zone.

Rep. Rita Mayfield, a Waukegan Democrat, said she was willing to advance the bill out of committee so negotiations could continue, but called the bill “problematic” in its current form. She said language that could exempt construction building materials from state and local sales taxes for up to 15 years is a “non starter” because of the potential revenue loss for municipalities.

Others questioned how communities beyond the Northwest suburbs — especially those in need of investment in Chicago and downstate — could benefit.

Buckner sought to characterize the bill as a “statewide tool” that allows local control.

“This is not a stadium bill. … there are other parts that will be negotiated and come before this body later on,” he said.

The measure would allow the Bears or any developer spending at least $500 million on a project statewide to negotiate tax payments directly with affected local governments including schools. The latest proposal would expand the tax treatment to developers who invest $250 million and agree to hire 50 new full-time employees, or spend $100 million and hire 100 people.

The so-called Payments in Lieu of Taxes financing mechanism outlined in the bill would effectively give the NFL franchise a 40-year-long property tax break at its 326-acre property in Arlington Heights.

The deal wouldn’t apply to residential property — under the latest draft of legislation — amid questions of whether the Bears could get such a deal for their entire proposed $5 billion entertainment and mixed-use district, or just the $2 billion domed stadium.

Republicans on the committee Thursday shared concerns over a potential tax shift to those outside megaproject boundaries, following testimony from Brian Costin, deputy state director of conservative/libertarian group Americans for Prosperity.

Costin believes language in the bill — that megaproject sites would still be valued at their fair cash value for purposes of calculating a municipality’s general obligation bond limits and other taxing bodies’ limitations on tax extensions — shoulders risk onto surrounding homeowners and small businesses, and could lead to tax hikes.

“There is nothing in the language that says that these special payments will or shall offset the property tax levies. … It’s kind of like a wild west in regards to the special payments,” Costin said. “And we’re not at all confident that those local government boards will have any incentive to look out for the considerations of the taxpayer.”

Supporters of the legislation have argued residents’ taxes could go down, since a local review board of taxing bodies would have the power to negotiate and approve payment amounts.

Though they didn’t get to testify before the committee, more than 100 proponents of the bill filed witness slips Thursday, including officials from Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, and a slew of labor unions and chambers of commerce.

Rep. John Cabello, a Machesney Park Republican, said House Republicans would like to be at the table for Bears stadium negotiations and several are willing to vote in favor of the bill, but are reluctant as currently drafted.

“The problem is we’ve got limited time. This has been going on for quite some time, and every day that goes by is higher costs for anybody wanting to build,” Cabello said. “There is a real possibility that they could be moving. We should do what need to keep them, but we have to protect the taxpayers.”