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Property tax bill to help Chicago Bears build Arlington Heights stadium won't get vote for at least 2 weeks

By
Marissa Perlman
Marissa Perlman
Reporter
Marissa Perlman is an award-winning reporter for CBS News Chicago. She joined the team in February 2021.
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Marissa Perlman,
Sara Tenenbaum
Sara Tenenbaum
Senior Web Producer, CBS Chicago
Sara Tenenbaum is the Senior Digital Producer for CBS News Chicago, overseeing editorial operations and social media, and covering breaking, local and community news.
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Sara Tenenbaum

/ CBS Chicago

The Chicago Bears will have to wait until at least April for action on a property tax bill that would boost their efforts to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights, as the Illinois House is set to adjourn Friday.

Top House Democratic negotiator State Rep. Kam Buckner confirmed to CBS News Chicago that the bill won't move before the House adjourns Friday for two weeks. They are set to return to session on April 7.

Lawmakers have been debating a major tax incentive packaged aimed at keeping the Bears in Illinois. The bill would allow the Bear, or any developer of "mega projects" that have a more than $500 million investment, to negotiate property taxes directly with local governments for up to 40 years.

The measure moved out of an Illinois House committee in February, but has not yet received a full floor vote.

The Bears bought the old Arlington Heights racetrack property years ago with plans to build a new domed stadium there. Gov. JB Pritzker and other state lawmakers have been vocal about not providing the NFL team with public funds and tax breaks to fund the stadium.

There have been dueling proposals ever since, with some fighting to keep the Bears in Chicago proper, others fighting to help the stadium get built in Arlington Heights, and recently Northwest Indiana jumping into the fray, proposing sites for a new Bears stadium in Gary and Hammond.

Indiana legislators recently passed their own bill to create a stadium authority to fund a new stadium in Hammond for the Bears using taxpayer dollars.

Pritzker criticized the Bears for a lack of transparency after the team praised the passage of the Indiana bill.

"The Bears really do need to step up and be public about what it is that they really want," Pritzker said. "I think the Bears need to make their intentions known. Those intentions could be that they want to continue to talk to both states, but I think they need to clarify that."

Arlington Heights Mayor Jim Tinaglia has called on Illinois lawmakers to act quickly to keep the team from moving to Indiana, saying last week that the mega projects bill needed to get done in the next two weeks for the Bears to stay.

"The pressure is on to try and wrap it up with capital ASAP," Tinaglia said. "I can promise you that no one at Halas Hall wants to wait till the end of May for this to be solved."

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