The possibility of the Chicago Bears moving across state lines to Indiana took a \u201cmeaningful step\u201d Thursday.<\/p>\n
The amended Indiana Senate Bill 27 passed through the Ways and Means committee by a vote of 24-0. The bill establishes the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority for the purpose of issuing bonds to finance, build and lease a stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe passage of SB 27 would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date,\u201d a statement from the Bears said. \u201cWe are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun posted on X that Indiana is \u201copen for business<\/a>, and our pro-growth environment continues to attract major opportunities like this partnership with the Chicago Bears. We\u2019ve identified a promising site near Wolf Lake in Hammond and established a broad framework for negotiating a final deal.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bears have long committed to contribute $2 billion to a new stadium since they closed on their purchase of land in Arlington Heights, Ill.<\/p>\n However, to remain in Illinois and build on the former Arlington Park site, the Bears need a mega-projects bill to pass through Springfield that would enable the overseers of major construction projects across the state to negotiate property tax responsibilities with local municipalities. While momentum seemed to be heading in a positive direction in recent days, Thursday morning\u2019s scheduled Illinois House Revenue and Finance committee meeting did not happen.<\/p>\n A spokesman for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the meeting didn\u2019t happen at the Bears\u2019 request.<\/p>\n \u201cIllinois was ready to move this bill forward,\u201d Matt Hill, deputy chief of staff, posted on X<\/a>. \u201cAfter a productive three hour meeting yesterday, the Bears leaders requested the ILGA pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bears have also sought governmental guarantees for infrastructure improvement around the stadium site \u2014 roads, sewers, etc. \u2014 common to all such new major developments.<\/p>\n The Bears\u2019 statement doesn\u2019t 100 percent commit to building in Indiana, but the framework for Hammond is in place. Next up is how Illinois responds, and if officials can move quickly enough to keep the Bears in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a shared commitment between both parties to make this happen,\u201d Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston said. \u201cWhat a day for northwest Indiana. What a day for Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n How will Indiana pay for its share?<\/p>\n Huston explained it will be similar to how the state funded Lucas Oil Stadium (which opened in 2008) and Gainbridge Fieldhouse (1999) in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n For the state\u2019s share of the stadium construction, the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority would issue bonds that would be repaid from the city of Hammond adopting an admissions tax on tickets (similar to Illinois\u2019 amusement tax) and the creation of a Professional Sports Development Area<\/a> (PSDA), which is a \u201cspecial taxing district authorized by the general assembly to enable the designating body to provide special benefits to taxpayers in the tax area by promoting economic development that is of public use and benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose dollars will be captured and repaid to pay back the bonds for the stadium construction,\u201d Huston said. \u201cThis is the same process we used for Lucas Oil Stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n For the infrastructure costs, Huston said they\u2019ll use \u201csome dollars found through a renegotiated lease with the Indiana Toll Road and we\u2019ll use those dollars to help fund the infrastructure in Lake County.\u201d Lake County and Porter County would adopt a 1 percent food and beverage tax, similar to what has been implemented in counties around Indianapolis, and Lake County would also add or increase its \u201cInnkeeper\u2019s Tax\u201d on hotel rooms. (Huston said they\u2019ve asked the county to add a 5 percent Innkeeper\u2019s Tax, but the current tax is already 5 percent, according to the Indiana Dept. of Revenue website<\/a>). Those tax dollars would be used to repay the money borrowed from the Indiana Toll Road. \u2014 Jon Greenberg, senior columnist\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The possibility of the Chicago Bears moving across state lines to Indiana took a \u201cmeaningful step\u201d Thursday. 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