IL House Approves Bears Stadium Tax Breaks

Illinois House lawmakers voted 78-32 late Wednesday to advance a bill written to make a Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights easier to finance. (ilga.gov) The measure, House Bill 910, now goes to the Illinois Senate after clearing the House Revenue and Finance Committee on a 15-5 vote earlier the same day. NBC Chicago reported the Senate returns next week, and the General Assembly website lists the Senate’s next session as April 28, 2026. (nbcchicago.com) (ilga.gov) At the center of the bill is a property-tax formula for “megaprojects.” WGN reported the latest amendment would let qualifying developments freeze property taxes for up to 40 years while negotiating extra payments with local governments through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, deal. (wgntv.com) That matters because the Bears have said tax certainty on the Arlington Heights site is a condition for moving ahead there. NBC Chicago said the bill is designed to lock in property tax rates on the property, which has been a sticking point in talks between the team and state officials. (nbcchicago.com) The legislation is also part of a state-border fight. Capitol News Illinois and Fox 32 both reported Illinois lawmakers are trying to keep the Bears from choosing a Northwest Indiana site instead, after Indiana officials floated subsidy-backed alternatives in Hammond. (capitolnewsillinois.com) (fox32chicago.com) Arlington Heights has been in play for more than three years because the Bears already own the former Arlington Park property. The village says the team bought the 326-acre site in February 2023, and the Bears’ own stadium site says Arlington Heights would pair a fixed-roof stadium with a larger mixed-use district. (vah.com) (stadium.chicagobears.com) Lawmakers changed the bill this week to broaden support beyond the Bears debate. NPR Illinois, citing the Chicago Sun-Times, reported Rep. Kam Buckner added a statewide property-tax-relief component to help win over lawmakers, including Republicans outside Chicago. (nprillinois.org) Critics have focused on what a special tax deal could mean for schools and for Chicago if the team leaves Soldier Field. NBC Chicago reported opponents warned about reduced revenue for Arlington Heights-area schools, while NPR Illinois reported some Chicago Democrats raised separate concerns about the city losing Bears-related revenue at Soldier Field. (nbcchicago.com) (nprillinois.org) The Bears did not treat Wednesday’s vote as the end of the negotiation. Capitol News Illinois reported the team said after House passage that more changes are still needed before it would pursue the Arlington Heights project under the bill’s current terms. (capitolnewsillinois.com) So the House vote moved the stadium plan forward, but it did not settle the site fight or the subsidy fight. The next test is the Senate, where lawmakers will decide whether Illinois wants this tax package badly enough to make Arlington Heights the Bears’ path out of Soldier Field. (nbcchicago.com)