Overview
- Multiple reports say Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative leaders back a package for roads, utilities and a PILOT-style megaprojects measure allowing the team to negotiate property taxes with Arlington Heights.
- The Bears maintain they will fund stadium construction themselves while requiring long-term property‑tax certainty and state-supported infrastructure around the site.
- Negotiators have discussed taxpayer safeguards alongside affordability measures to keep ticket prices accessible for families, according to people familiar with the talks.
- Pritzker says progress is evident, with representatives from the state, Arlington Heights and the team meeting frequently since December, and local officials describing talks as moving at a fast pace.
- Indiana’s Senate has passed a bill to create a stadium authority that could finance a venue under a long lease; sources say Wolf Lake in Hammond is the lone Indiana site under consideration, and the session deadline around Feb. 27 is adding time pressure.