DES MOINES, Iowa — “Are you ready for some football?”
That was the opening comment to a Senate Local Government subcommittee hearing Thursday at the Iowa State Capitol on a bill that would try to lure the Chicago Bears to Iowa.
The Bears are looking for a new home after spending a half century playing games at Soldier Field in the heart of Chicago. The suburb of Arlington Heights is trying to secure a new stadium in the Chicagoland area while the State of Indiana is passing its own legislation to try to attract the Bears to the Hoosier State.
State Sen. Mike Bousselot (R-Ankeny) kicked off the meeting with many football and sports puns. Bousselot argued Iowans would embrace an NFL franchise and benefit economically through new tourism money while also becoming a regional hub.
He said it is a shot worth taking.
“It’s a 0.00% chance unless you try,” Bousselot said Thursday. “And that is what this is, an attempt to say we want to be in that conversation and considered.”
Democrats called the bill a distraction from more pressing issues Republicans don’t want to discuss.
“Obviously there is no way the Chicago Bears are moving to wherever they want to move them to,” State Rep. Brian Meyer (D-Des Moines), “The reality is we’re not going to annex Galena, Illinois either. So lets get serious. We need to buckle down, and focus on school funding, clean up the waterways, and make life more affordable.”
The bill advanced Thursday and will move to a full committee hearing.