Legislators race against the clock as Bears stadium deal stalls

SPRINGFIELD — It’s fourth down for the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session, and the Bears may need a Hail Mary to get a deal for a new stadium in Arlington Heights.

The NFL franchise’s long-sought megaproject legislation — which would allow the team to negotiate tax payments directly with local governments over 40 years — didn’t formally move to a vote Saturday at the state Capitol.

Legislators adjourn at midnight Sunday night. The Bears bill, and a lot else, remains on their docket.

Gov. JB Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch have been meeting behind closed doors for days to hammer out details on a proposed $56 billion state budget, including possible new revenue options like a digital advertising tax.

Formal debate and subject matter hearings on the spending plan started after 8 p.m. Saturday.

Lawmakers must pass a budget by the constitutionally mandated May 31 deadline. If other matters — such as the Bears bill — are kicked down the road into an unlikely special session, legislation faces a higher threshold to pass: a three-fifths majority (71 votes in the House and 36 in the Senate).

Other still-unresolved issues include a temporary suspension of a state gas tax increase and the fate of Pritzker’s Building Up Illinois Developments, or BUILD, housing plan. New regulations on data centers won’t move forward this session, legislators decided.

Pritzker didn’t address the Bears legislation when he last spoke with reporters leaving his office Friday night.

“We’re focused on the budget,” he said. “That is the number one thing we’re going to get done.”

The Senate gaveled in at 1 p.m. Saturday to take a series of votes on less-controversial matters, and fete retiring Republican state Sen. Dale Fowler of downstate Harrisburg.

Members of the House started committee meetings at 3 p.m. before meeting as a full chamber at 5 p.m.

Among those watching and waiting for developments in the hallways of the Capitol Saturday were Scott Hagel, the Bears’ senior vice president of public and governmental affairs; and Matt Murphy, the former Republican state senator from Palatine who is now a lobbyist for the village of Arlington Heights.

Also there was John Arena, chief lobbyist for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has tried to quash the megaproject bill and a Bears relocation to the suburbs.

A 376-page version of the bill passed the House on a 78-32 vote on April 22. A pared-down, amended version that could be more palatable to holdout senators still hadn’t been filed as of Saturday night.

In between meetings Saturday evening, Senate Republican Leader John Curran of Downers Grove told reporters that such a scaled back bill — focusing on the Bears’ proposed redevelopment of the former Arlington Park property and perhaps other Cook County projects — was likely the only option legislators could consider. It’s too late in the session, he said, to do a bigger legislative package that would cover other big ticket redevelopment projects across the state.