Pritzker plays offense and defense in game of political football over elusive Bears deal

Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday pointed to “fumbles” by the Bears and “confusion” by legislators while defending his role in trying to quarterback a deal to keep the team in Illinois.

The governor, in his first public appearance since the NFL franchise announced Friday its board of directors advanced a plan for a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, also said he’d work this summer to bring Bears brass and Illinois lawmakers together over an agreed-upon legislative package, while taking aim across state lines at the competing stadium deal already approved by Hoosier politicians.

“In Indiana, they’re going to have to raise sales taxes. They’re raising tolls. I mean, the question is, do people in Illinois want their sales taxes raised to pay for the Chicago Bears? Do they want tolls raised to pay for the Chicago Bears? I don’t think they do,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event at La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago. “We put a package together that would allow us to keep the Bears without having to do that. And again, there were some people who, either through confusion or direct malice against the bill, killed it.”

The governor on Tuesday also responded to criticism over his handling of negotiations, including whether he should have taken a more active role to twist legislators’ arms to vote for the megaproject legislation he and the Bears favored. Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia on Monday likened the governor’s position to that of a head coach.

Pritzker said he spent half the days of the General Assembly’s spring calendar in Springfield, but that his nonlegislative responsibilities extend statewide. He added that he put “scaffolding” of a Bears stadium deal together — short of imposing upon the House and Senate and members’ own input.

“I expend political capital all the time,” he said, when pressed if he would try to cajole still-skeptical legislators to get behind a deal this summer. “I’ll continue to do so to get things done on a priority basis. I will continue to work with the Chicago Bears and anybody who wants to make sure that we provide them with what it is they need that isn’t going to cost taxpayers more money.”

Back on offense at his Tuesday afternoon media availability, Pritzker claimed the proverbial “fumbles” began when Bears officials and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson held a news conference in April 2024 to announce plans for a new publicly owned lakefront stadium that Pritzker and state legislative leaders opposed. The $4.7 billion plan would have required about half the funds from taxpayer support.

Then the team wavered between wanting to be in Arlington Heights or Hammond, and more recently held further discussions with Chicago city officials.

“You can imagine for Chicago legislators and for everybody considering the bill that was put forward, it’s confusing. Which one do you want?” Pritzker said.

The House on April 22 advanced amended megaproject legislation — which would have allowed the Bears and other big developers to directly negotiate property tax payments with local units of government — while the Senate passed a different bill in the waning hours of the spring session to create municipal stadium authorities. The House adjourned just before 5 a.m. June 1 without taking up the latter measure.

Pritzker suggested that top team leaders should have shown up at the Capitol to lobby legislators at the end of the session.

“You got to work the hallways, as you know, in a very, very busy session,” Pritzker told reporters. “You’ve got to really talk to every legislator if you want to get something done.”

Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to return to Springfield for the fall veto session until Nov. 17 — and Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch or Senate President Don Harmon could call a special session — but the governor says he won’t until the Bears can get both chambers around the same bill.

Pritzker confirmed he has received calls from Bears officials and believes there’s still time to prevent the NFL club from crossing the state line, especially since the team hasn’t yet selected an exact site.

“I love the Chicago Bears. I want them to be in Illinois, and I have worked very hard to try to keep them in Illinois,” Pritzker said. “I think that they’ve got to make sure that they know what it is that they want and stick to the message.”