Overview
- A statewide 'megaprojects' PILOT to give the Bears multi-decade property-tax certainty failed to win enough support in the Illinois Senate and will not pass.
- State Sen. Bill Cunningham said a new bill is expected to be filed that aims to keep the Bears in Chicago by placing a new stadium on publicly owned land and changing how property tax obligations are handled.
- Reported deal terms are preliminary and inconsistent across sources, with negotiators describing the plan as back-of-the-envelope and key language still being drafted.
- Indiana recently approved a financing framework for a Hammond site, giving the Bears a concrete out-of-state alternative that increased urgency for Illinois lawmakers.
- The late-stage push faces tight legislative timing that would raise the vote threshold if delayed and carries real costs for taxpayers because state and local governments would likely pay infrastructure bills and the tax relief could shift revenue away from schools and local services.