Illinois residents are just completely over this drama with the Chicago Bears' $5 billion stadium after the state's most recent failure to get it voted on.
An amended bill was written in Illinois so that the public could own the new stadium in Arlington Heights, and the Bears wouldn't have to pay property tax on it. That resulted in the Illinois Senate passing the bill, but the House did not get a chance to vote on it, leaving it in limbo: either the House holds a special session in the summer to vote on it, or it doesn't get discussed until they return in November.
Much criticism has been directed at the Bears and the state for not working out this deal already, but the one consistent part in all of this is Indiana standing strong with its already-approved bill, ready to bring the franchise to Hammond to build the stadium. Indiana Governor Mike Braun spoke out about the latest developments in Illinois.
"We move at the speed of business, and that honest conversation we had should have cued them there that they needed to do something other than adjourning without, you know, any result," Governor Braun said via FOX 59's Hannah Adamson. "I think that this just puts the punctuation on the fact that (the Bears) were doing their due diligence all along, and I expect them to probably make some formal announcement maybe now in less than a month.”
Indiana starting to look more confident that they will get the Bears' new stadium
To the credit of Governor Braun and the state of Indiana, they have shown they want the Bears there badly with how quickly they responded and moved on the bill. While Illinois and the Bears have gone back and forth on this for over three years, Indiana got their bill passed months ago and are prepared to take the Bears in today.
This has become such a mess on the Illinois side that Hammond, Indiana, is increasingly likely to be the top choice. Indiana already gave the Bears a break on property taxes with the bill it passed, so they have been ahead of the game from Day 1.
It feels as if all the Illinois politicians are now looking to shift the blame to the Bears, even though the state had the power to get this done years ago. The Bears also deserve their share of the blame, as they have played Illinois by flirting with Indiana to get a better deal.
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A decision is expected in late spring/early summer, so the timeline is almost up for the Bears to make one. Illinois better move fast on getting something done with the bill, or they will be left with egg on their faces.
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