Daily Herald opinion: Reality check: Chicago mayor’s attempt to block Bears’ path to the ’burbs is ill-timed

In the last five years, the Bears’ journey to a new stadium has bounced from the suburbs to Chicago and back again — with a well-played detour to Hammond. At this point, however, the NFL team has made clear that the choice is between the sprawling Arlington Heights property the Bears already own and a tax-friendly move to Indiana.

Chicago is no longer part of the game plan. And that point was driven home by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s comments Tuesday about just two potential Bears sites.

That’s why it’s disconcerting to see Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson throwing his weight around in Springfield in an ill-timed attempt to bring the focus back to the city. And last Friday he proposed that the city take more control over the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the state agency that financed 2003 renovations at Soldier Field.

Gov. JB Pritzker, who wanted the Bears in Chicago, called out the mayor Monday for moves to stop a relocation in Arlington Heights, describing Johnson’s lobbying visit to the state Capitol earlier this month “late in the game.”

“Late” is an understatement.

There’s just slightly more than a week left before the General Assembly adjourns its spring season. And legislation that would give the team a tax break to build a domed stadium and more on the former Arlington Park site has already languished for three years while Indiana took mere weeks to act.

“The mayor has no plan,” Pritzker said Monday. “He’s come up with no plan at all about how the Bears would end up in the city of Chicago. So that’s problematic. I’d love them to be in the city, but we are three years in now, and he still has no plan. The Bears have said publicly … that they have now only two options, and that’s the state of Indiana or Arlington Heights. We would like them to stay in the state of Illinois, and so I’m fighting hard to make sure that they can do that.”

In a statement following Pritzker’s comments, the mayor’s office reiterated support for a publicly owned domed stadium on the Chicago lakefront. And on a WVON show Tuesday, he said the megaproject bill was “undermining” the city.

“The city’s proposal remains the only plan centered on public ownership alongside a funding mechanism that does not burden property taxpayers while keeping the Bears in Chicago,” read Monday’s statement.

Losing the Bears to Arlington Heights would be a defeat for Johnson, who is staring down low approval ratings less than a year before what could be a bruising reelection battle. But let’s be clear: Blocking a move to Arlington Heights will only serve to push the team over the border. It’s past time to accept that reality.

Before the General Assembly adjourns for the summer on May 31, lawmakers must come to some sort of agreement that keeps the Bears in Illinois. The House passed a version on April 22, but the Bears have called for changes and an amended plan has yet to hit the Senate floor.

We know it will — no doubt in the waning hours of the session. It needs to address the very real concerns of Illinois taxpayers while moving game-changing plans for an Arlington Heights stadium closer to the goal line.

Done right, it looks to be the best option for Bears fans — and the state of Illinois.