Illinois Legislature Fails to Reach Chicago Bears Stadium Deal as Indiana Taxpayers Remain at Risk

I learned more about the Illinois General Assembly, and how Illinois government works than I ever thought I would. Over the weekend, I spent basically Saturday and Sunday keeping tabs on a variety of Illinois media figures, reporters of their Statehouse. And I'll tell you what, the drama was crazy. The drama was awesome and I can't even begin to tell you. Like, if I could separate myself as a taxpayer and knowing what the damage is going to be, if I could separate myself from the damage my wallet is going to potentially endure if the Bears come to Indiana. It was great theater. It was great, great, great drama to watch unfold in real time. The problem is I can't. I can't because I am a taxpayer, the state of Indiana. And if the Bears ultimately come here, it's going to be bad for me. But let's talk about what happened over the weekend in Illinois and let's set sort of some, let's sort of set some parameters of this, right? Because I've told you guys for months now that I think the Bears play with the state of Indiana was ultimately not to come to Indiana, but to leverage a better deal with the state of Illinois.

Chicago Bears Stadium Negotiations Descend Into Chaos During Final Days of Illinois Session

The Bears, like nobody wants to acknowledge, the Bears are close to $200 million into the facility they purchased at Arlington Heights. So for those of you who don't know, just kind of to reset everything, I assume most of you know what's going on here because you are some of the most informed people in all the world, in all the land, certainly in the great state of Indiana. But for those of you who don't, here's the background on what's taken place so far. So the Chicago Bears, since the 1970s, have played in a stadium known as Soldier Field. Soldier Field is a lakefront property. And before that, the Bears played in Wrigley Field, which is the home of the Chicago Cubs. In the late 90s, the Bears decided that Soldier Field and the city of Chicago decided that Soldier Field, which is a historical monument, it's a historical piece of property, had outlived its usefulness, and it needed a renovation. They ultimately spent hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate Soldier Field, which proved to be a disaster on the shores of Lake Michigan. It is one of the worst, the worst stadium. It may, in fact be. It probably is now the worst stadium in the National Football League. It's a disaster. Whoever did that, whoever got paid for that, stealing money from the people of Illinois, just thieving money. It is a disaster if you have. And not only is the stadium bad, the area is awful. Great view. Fabulous, right? Lakefront property. You think, oh my gosh, this is great. Well, the problem is there's nothing around it. It's hard to get to places to eat. There's almost nowhere to park. It is a horrible place other than the view itself to watch a football game, the tailgating, all of this stuff. It is a dumpster fire. And so the Bears said a couple years ago, we need a new stadium. Well, we want a new stadium. Let me rephrase. We want a new stadium. And the people of Illinois were like, well, wait a second. Like 20 plus years ago, not that long ago, certainly we paid hundreds of millions of dollars for you guys to have a new stadium. And everybody signed off on it. And the Bears were like, yeah, that was the old deal. It's 2020. It's the 2020s, baby. We want a new stadium. We can get a new stadium. We're going for a new stadium. And so the Bears, their claim is that they exhausted all avenues with the city of Chicago. And essentially, after exhausting all avenues with the city of Chicago on location, the way to fund it, what it would look like, all of these things. I mean, let's face it, right? There's not just hundreds of acres laying around in the city of Chicago. Hey, you should go there. Sure. Why not? Right. I mean, you think about it. The size of the stadium, the parking. Of course. Now, any of these major developments, no matter what type of stadium they are, be they baseball, basketball, football, there's communities around them. There's commercial communities, restaurants, bars, all of these things that didn't exist in the city of Chicago. So the Bears purchased hundreds of acres in Arlington Heights. Arlington Heights is a suburb of the city of Chicago. They purchased an old racecourse. They demolished the racecourse, and they said, this will be our new home pending the Illinois General Assembly getting their act together and granting us property tax certainty. And so this went on for a long period of time. The Illinois General Assembly refused to act, granting any sort of property tax certainty. And so the Bears finally said, enough with you people. If you don't want us, we'll negotiate with someone who does. And they came to the state of Indiana and the Indiana General Assembly faster than you could snap your fingers said, giving away billions of dollars to a multi-billion dollar corporation. We do that better than anybody. Heck, yeah. We'll participate. Sign us up, baby. And so the Indiana General Assembly constructed legislation this past year that would give the Bears not a free stadium. The way the stadium would work is the public would own the stadium. The Bears would pay off the bonds, the Bears would get the stadium tax free, and then the Bears would own the stadium after a certain period of time for $1. So the Bears would get a tax free stadium. And on top of that, hundreds of millions of dollars would be flushed off of the toll road. I-80 toll. They just enhanced the tolling by the way. They raised the taxes. The toll tax would be flushed to the Bears Stadium off the I-80 toll. And basically everything that went on in this area would go to pay off the stadium faster. So the income tax, the tax on the restaurants, the bars, the things would be built in the area. It was a sweetheart of sweetheart deals for the Bears. Oh yeah. And on top of that there would be a ticket tax. And there was going to be a hotel tax. And there was going to be a new food and beverage tax for the people of the area. So whether you like football or not, whether you participate in football or not, to fund a Bears stadium in Hammond, Indiana, they were going to be massive tax increases across the board, not just for the people of the area. And this is the key for essentially every motorist in the state of Indiana, because the toll taxes are going up and those toll taxes were supposed to go to fund our roads, and now those toll taxes are going to be siphoned off the majority of them to go to the Bears Stadium. So projects aren't going to get done. Taxes are going to go up. And in order to get those projects done that were supposed to be funded by the toll road, now they're going to raise other toll taxes or invent toll taxes like on I-70. So all of us in the state of Indiana, no matter where we're from, are going to get the joy of subsidizing the Bears coming to Indiana. And that's why I said, you people better hope that Illinois gets its act together. You people better hope that somehow the General Assembly and the governor in Illinois pull through on this because it is going to be, the Bears Stadium is going to be a financial disaster for the taxpayers of Indiana.

Indiana’s Offer Continues to Pressure Illinois Lawmakers Into Action

And that brought us to Saturday and Sunday. The Bears, by the way, had set their own time frame. They had said, end of spring, early summer, we will make a commitment on where we're going. Which seemed to coincide with the Illinois General Assembly wrapping up their legislative session at the stroke of midnight May the 31st. Illinois's legislature was supposed to end at midnight on May the 31st. Now, couple things that I learned about the Illinois government over the past two days is that midnight on May the 31st. Well, it's just kind of an idea. Other than the budget, the Illinois General Assembly can continue after May the 31st. The only thing that changes is if they pass something after midnight on May the 31st, in order for it to take effect immediately, they would need a supermajority of both the House and Senate. But if it passes without a supermajority, it can't take effect until June 1st of 2027. Well, for the Bears, that wouldn't be that big of a deal because we're talking years from now that the stadium will come to fruition. So as long as the Bears had a framework in place after the General Assembly wrapped up in Illinois, they'd be okay. Because technically, whatever they do, the Bears won't immediately be acting on it. So the plan in front of as of Saturday and stay with me here on this guys. This is crazy. Like as bad as our General Assembly is, I have found out that Illinois's is infinitely worse. And it doesn't excuse how bad our people are. It's not like, well, you guys are an F, but they're an F minus. So your F is okay. No no no no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying, after two days of watching this, I can see why Illinois is in the financial shape it's in. Because what you start and this is interesting, right? In the modern era where you follow everything on Twitter, found a couple of really good reporters, couple of good news sources that cover Illinois government, a lot of independent journalists type people. And so what happens is Twitter, like YouTube, like, you know, when we ask you guys, hey, like the feed, right? Hey, share the feed, the algorithm takes over. The machine is becoming self-aware and so Twitter is the same way. Twitter looks at what are you consuming? What are you looking at? What are you taking in every single day? And so after a day of consuming Bears information coming from people covering the General Assembly, my whole feed became Illinois news and politics. All the Indiana stuff. Nope. Doesn't exist anymore. It just became Illinois news and politics and the Illinois General Assembly. So I start following all of these bills that I have no interest in, right? Like, I don't give two damns about the Illinois budget, but then you start watching it and you're like, ooh, this is kind of interesting. You start following Illinois hemp legislation, like all of these, all of these things that have no impact on your life. But you're like, oh, this is interesting. I'll start following this. And everything with these people is a dumpster fire. Everything is chaotic. Everything is to the last minute. I mean, our session is that way too, but not this bad. So following the Bears bill, following Bears bill and the proposal that was in front of the General Assembly in Illinois that had passed the House, it was in front of the Senate. Technically, it had already passed. The House was called PILOT, payment in lieu of taxes, because the Bears' whole issue with building a stadium in Arlington Heights is we don't have certainty, we don't have tax certainty, they said. We know where we want to build this stadium. And guys, stay with me. I'm going to spend some time on this. It's fascinating. Like it's so much drama. There's so much to do. I may have to take a break in the middle of all of this. Like, it's so much chaos, but it's really important for us because our taxes are going to pay for this monstrosity if Illinois taxes don't go to pay for this monstrosity. So the proposal in front of the Senate, because the Bears had said, we want to build in Arlington Heights, Chicago, the city of Chicago, the mayor, the aldermen, the Chicago Reps and senators said, well, we want you to build in Chicago. The Bears said, no, no, no, that ship has sailed. And so there was this drama about not only what to give the Bears, but where they had to build it at the Chicago Reps. And senators were like scorned lovers, what we want you to be in Chicago. And the Bears kept saying, we've had that relationship. It was fun. We had some good times together. It's just not working out for us anymore. And so the House passed a bill which allowed PILOT, which is payment in lieu of taxes, which would have allowed the Chicago Bears to negotiate with the City of Arlington Heights, the taxes that they would pay. It would essentially said all property tax laws thrown out the window for the Bears. They can negotiate their deal with the city of Arlington Heights, and they can come up with an amount agreed to by the Bears in the city of Arlington Heights. And they pay that instead of regular property taxes. And the Bears said that's what we want. The Bears also said, we want that, and we want infrastructure around the stadium paid for by the government. We'll pay for the stadium. We just negotiate our own tax rate with the city of Arlington Heights, and the government pays for the infrastructure and then we'll take care of the rest. House said, okay, great. Sounds good. The Senate said, no, we're not doing that. The Chicago Senators, if you read through the minutia of all of it. And obviously a lot of stuff is going on behind closed doors. A lot of it doesn't actually get out. But if you read the report, if you read through what's going on, the Chicago Senators and the guy who controls the Senate is from Chicago basically said, no, we're not going to facilitate you leaving the city of Chicago. We're not going to have on our hands that we paid for the Bears to go to Arlington Heights. And the Bears said, but we're not staying in Chicago. The offer is not Chicago or Arlington Heights. The offer is Arlington Heights or Hammond, Indiana, and Chicago. The Chicago Senators kept going. No no no no no no no no no. And it was like this standoff where people were just staring at each other like Arlington Heights is the option. And Chicago was like, no, no, no, Chicago is the option. So nothing's getting done. Nothing's getting done. Finally, we make it to Sunday and early Sunday, late Saturday, early Sunday, the Senate comes out and goes, there are not the votes to pass the PILOT program to allow the Bears to stay in Arlington Heights. We will consider new legislation. Like what new legislation? You got 24 hours, dude. You got 24 hours. The Bears have said they're not staying in Chicago. The House has already passed this deal to help them stay in Arlington Heights. The Bears have said we like most of that. What new legislation are you talking about? We will get back to you as soon as we know. So all Sunday, there's like, oh, what is this legislation going to be? What's it going to look like? What's it going to be? Finally, with a few hours to go, the Senate comes out and says, and you're hearing all this reporting, you're reading these reports from these people, all this stuff. It could be this, it could be that. The Senate comes out and basically says, and they did not say this, but this is how I'm picturing them, how they should have said it. We have simply decided to copy and paste Indiana's deal. Cross out Indiana's name and put Illinois in its place. That's basically what the Senate did after having literally years to get their act together. Literally months since Indiana made their offer. Months that the Bears said, we really like this Indiana offer. It's really good. We would probably take that if Illinois doesn't get its act together. Illinois was like. We have come to the conclusion copy and paste is our best option. And Illinois passed a bill. I'm sorry, let me be very specific on this. The Illinois Senate passed a bill at about four in the morning local time. So about three in the morning their time. So they've already run past the midnight deadline. Right. So now they've either got to pass this with a supermajority, both houses, the House and the Senate, or it doesn't take effect until June 1st. Are you following me on this? I'm doing my best. Guys. There was so much chaos. I'm doing my. And it's so complicated. And I'm doing my best because I want to explain what happened. And then I want to tell you how it affects us here. So if any of this is not making sense, I'm sorry. Imagine trying to process it in real time. So what the Illinois Senate essentially did was copy and paste the Indiana deal. And the Indiana deal essentially creates a special governing body. They call it they're calling it a sports authority in Illinois. But it essentially creates a governing body that allows the Bears to pay for a stadium that belongs to the public. But the Bears get everything that goes on in this district, the stadium and the development that happens around it. It would be publicly owned but paid for by the Bears. But the Bears don't have to pay any property taxes. So let's review. This is the most government thing ever, the Bears said. We're happy to pay something on our stadium. Illinois. We just think your property tax laws are prohibitive. So please allow us to just negotiate a deal with the community that will be in right. So Arlington Heights, the community we're going to be in, please allow us just to negotiate a special deal with them that works for them. We'll pay that, and then we'll pay for everything else other than the infrastructure around the stadium. The General Assembly is like, to steal a line from the late, great Hulk Hogan, that doesn't work for me, brother. So then they said, we know what we'll do. We'll make it so you don't pay anything at all. What? So at about three in the morning, Illinois time, four in the morning, local time here. And by the way, last night it was fun until about midnight. And then I'm like, screw this. I'm not just going to stare at my phone all night. I have to have some level of sleep. So I was setting my alarm every hour to wake up and see if they had passed this bill. Because like, guys, you have to. I'm telling you, this is months of stuff. It's so complicated. Every one of these Illinois legislators, these Illinois Democrats, should be ashamed of themselves. This should have been so easy for them, and they've made it ridiculously complicated. Let me rephrase that. The Chicago people have made it ridiculously complicated because they won't accept the Bears are leaving the city of Chicago. So finally, about four local time, the Senate passes this bill and you're saying, well, why did they do this? Here's why. This is why politics ruins everything. Keep in mind, there was a deal on the table that the Bears had essentially agreed to where they would pay taxes. They were like, we're not objecting to paying taxes. We're just objecting to paying the taxes that you people are demanding we pay. The new deal makes the Bears essentially not have to pay any taxes. But what does the new deal accomplish? It allows any city in Cook County with a population of 70,000 people or more, to be able to create the sports authority necessary to have the Bears pay no taxes. Who does that bring back into the conversation? The city of Chicago. And what this is allowing the senators are allowing the senators in Chicago to do. And by the way, when you say like senators of Chicago, that's a massive group of people because Chicago is such a large population portion of Illinois. It's not just like 1 or 2 senators. There's a whole bunch of them. What it allowed them to do in the Senate is to pass this, even though it's a worse deal for taxpayers. Like it's a way worse. It's a way better deal for the Bears and a way worse deal for the taxpayers. It allows these senators now to adjourn going, Chicago is still in the mix. We have not lost the Bears. The Bears could still theoretically come to the city of Chicago, even though the Bears have said, we don't want anything to do with the city of Chicago. We're done here. There's nowhere for us to go. We don't want the deal you're offering. We're done. But it allows the senators to adjourn, going, we did not lose the Bears yet. Of course, Arlington Heights has a population of more than 70,000 people. So they're still in the mix, which is where the Bears want to go. By the way, the Bears have said nothing publicly at this point throughout any of this. No. Hey, the Bears are on board. We don't even know if this is what the Bears want. They're just winging it. They're just making it up here. Throw that against the wall. See if that sticks.

Illinois Senate Copies Indiana Stadium Proposal in Last-Minute Attempt to Keep Bears

So that's at 4 a.m. local time. Everybody just assumes the Illinois House is going to pass this bill. Everybody's like, okay, the Senate has made its deal. That is what the Bears are gonna have to work with. Will the Bears choose essentially an identical deal to the deal that the state of Indiana has set up? Or will they just, out of spite, go to Indiana? Like that's the thing. Everybody just assumes it's done. And then people start waiting. When is the House going to take this bill up? When will the House meet to pass it? When will the House put the agenda item up and you're like, you're following now. Now I'm awake, right? I had to wake up and I saw this and okay, the deal is done. And it's like, now I can't go back to bed. And now I got to start putting the template together for the show today. You have to wait because you have no idea what it's going to be, because last night nobody knew what was going to happen. So now I'm already awake. I can't go back to bed and you're waiting and you're following these people and you're refreshing and you're scrolling and nothing's happening.

Legislative Failure Leaves Bears Stadium Future Uncertain and Taxpayer Questions Unanswered

And then finally, there's an announcement from the speaker of the House. Yeah. We just don't think the time is right for this. We're leaving. You guys have a good day. And what do you mean you're leaving? Yeah, we'll get back to it. But this is the last day of the session. Yeah, we recognize that. But you guys aren't meeting again until November. Yeah, we really don't care. It'll get done. They caught the speaker of the House going back into his chambers, and they asked him and he like, just goes, it'll all work itself out. He'll get around to it. And that was it. And it ended with nothing. The House passed a version. The Senate passed a version. They never came back together. The House was just like, we're done here. And so right now, as of right now, there is no deal. All of that and the Illinois General Assembly adjourned without a deal. Complete and utter insanity. Complete and utter incompetence. Complete and utter chaos.