Overview
- The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its spring session without a final stadium deal after the Senate passed a municipal stadium-authority bill but the House did not vote, leaving action unfinished on Monday, June 1.
- Senate backers approved a measure that would let large Cook County municipalities create public stadium authorities so the Bears could build on publicly owned land and avoid property taxes, but the House adjourned before taking it up.
- The Bears said they will finish evaluating Arlington Heights and Hammond on their previously stated late-spring/early-summer timeline and will announce a decision when ready.
- Indiana’s earlier passage of a financing framework that could supply about $1 billion in incentives gives Hammond a live, competitive alternative and increases pressure on Illinois to act quickly to retain the team.
- Because the session ended, any new Illinois stadium bill would now face a higher three-fifths vote threshold to take effect within a year, special sessions appear unlikely, and communities and taxpayers remain exposed to unresolved questions about infrastructure costs, tax shifts and environmental cleanup.