Rosemont’s Stephens is latest player in Bears stadium talks
State Rep. Brad Stephens of Rosemont and three other House Republicans plan to meet Wednesday with Deputy Gov. Andy Manar and other members of Gov. JB Pritzker’s staff to discuss Bears stadium megaproject legislation.
Stephens — an assistant House minority leader who doubles as mayor of tiny but powerful Rosemont — could be key to winning over a few GOP votes for a stadium deal, amid reluctance from some Chicago Democratic legislators who don’t want the team to leave for the suburbs.
Legislation that would give the NFL club a tax break at its 326-acre property in Arlington Heights hasn’t moved in Springfield, not having met Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s minimum 60-vote threshold to be called to the House floor for a vote.
State Rep. Kam Buckner — the point person for House Democrats in stadium talks — has been working behind the scenes to secure votes from colleagues as the team threatens to move across the state line to Northwest Indiana.
Despite Democrats having a 78-member supermajority — many of them whose districts fall within the city limits — the Bears may need Stephens and a few Republicans to help carry the ball if the so-called Payments in Lieu of Taxes bill has a chance of passing.
House Minority Leader Tony McCombie asked Stephens — mayor of the Northwest suburban sports, entertainment and business mecca since 2007 — to be point person for House Republicans on stadium negotiations.
“I’m sure some of my minor development skills can help,” Stephens said Monday after his monthly village board meeting, and before he returns to Springfield for session Tuesday.
Stephens played a similar role last year in a House working group that put together a transit reform bill. He said he works well with Buckner, who was also part of that group.
It was nearly two years ago that Stephens endorsed the plan being floated by the Bears at the time for a new publicly subsidized stadium on the Chicago lakefront, declaring in a May 13, 2024, Daily Herald story that “the Chicago Bears belong in Chicago.” More than half of Stephens’ 20th District is on the city’s Northwest Side.
But on Monday he criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and “timid” Democratic colleagues in the legislature for holding onto hopes the team will stay in the city.
It’s now either Arlington Heights or Hammond, Stephens said.
“They don’t want to go where he wants them to go,” Stephens said of the Bears rejecting the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville. “That’s their prerogative.”
Stephens was not among 30 of the 40 House Republicans who signed their names to a letter late last week offering support for a Bears stadium deal in exchange for broader property tax reforms. The open letter, led by state Rep. Dan Ugaste of Geneva, demands property tax increase referendums only appear on November general election ballots when voter turnout is highest, and ending so-called “back-door” referendums where municipalities roll over bond payments to new projects.
Both the House and Senate are back in session Tuesday. Friday marks the formal deadline for the House to send bills to the Senate, though the deadline can be extended. The spring session concludes May 31.