Pritzker upbeat on Bears bill despite legislators going on break

Despite a weekslong delay in the legislative calendar in Springfield, Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday expressed optimism with progress on a pending Bears stadium deal in Springfield.

Bears-backed megaproject legislation that would give the NFL franchise a massive tax break at its property in Arlington Heights advanced out of a House committee last Thursday, but the measure didn’t get a vote on the full House floor before members adjourned until March 18.

“What we have put forward in the state of Illinois that the legislators passed out of committee is something that the Bears think is a good proposal, and there’s more obviously that’s part of what the Bears are hoping to do and work with the state on. That’s going to happen over the next few weeks,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning on Chicago’s Near West Side.

“But I think March 18 is really the next moment that the legislature needs to move forward with its proposals.”

Even in the House Revenue and Finance Committee, the measure faced tough questions from legislators on both sides of the aisle. And it still faces an uphill battle securing votes from the Chicago delegation who are seeking guarantees the city be made whole, as nearly $500 million in debt still lingers on the 2003 Soldier Field renovations.

Negotiations continue behind closed doors among Pritzker’s staff, state Rep. Kam Buckner and other legislators, Bears brass, and Arlington Heights officials. But talks have increased with urgency amid the team’s flirtation with Indiana, where Gov. Mike Braun signed legislation Thursday to lure the team just over the state line to Hammond.

The Illinois Senate remains in session, but the legislative calendar for the current spring session has the House out of town until the day after primary elections.

“That is the legislature that has their own schedule,” Pritzker said. “That is a process of the legislature. March 18 they’ll be back. I think you’re going to see progress. So that doesn’t really bother me. Obviously as fast as we can get this done through the legislature — and that’s going to be up to the legislators to do it — that we want to get it done for the Bears.”

After the House committee vote last week, Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia said he was “very optimistic that the necessary support will be present for the bill to pass both the Senate and House and advance to the governor’s desk in the coming weeks.”

The legislation 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 for up to 40 years.

Critics have raised concerns over a potential tax shift to those outside megaproject boundaries.