{"id":920596,"date":"2026-06-16T16:45:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/920596\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:45:21","slug":"cant-afford-to-lose-them-state-rep-from-lake-county-unveils-legislation-to-keep-chicago-bears-in-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/920596\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Can’t afford to lose [them]’: State rep from Lake County unveils legislation to keep Chicago Bears in Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\"\" <\/a>A rendering shows the Chicago Bears\u2019 vision for their proposed Arlington Park stadium in Arlington Heights. The team announced in December that it had since expanded its search amid difficulty negotiating for government financial incentives and said earlier this month that it was pursuing northwestern Indiana for its new stadium. | Photo: Manica \/ Chicago Bears<\/p>\n

A state representative from Lake County said Monday he has unveiled \u201cstraightforward\u201d legislation designed to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois after the team announced it was officially moving to Indiana.<\/p>\n

Illinois State Representative Martin McLaughlin (R-Lake Barrington) announced Monday a \u201cstraightforward business proposal\u201d designed to keep the Chicago Bears in the state while protecting taxpayers through \u201ctransparency, accountability, and long-term financial certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation, known as the Taxpayer and Investment Protection Agreement (TIPA) Act (HB5797), would establish a framework for a public-private partnership that encourages major economic development projects to remain in Illinois rather than relocate to neighboring states.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears, under the proposal, would privately invest a minimum of $2.5 billion toward the construction of a new stadium.<\/p>\n

The State of Illinois would contribute up to $1.2 billion toward public infrastructure improvements, supporting both the stadium project and an estimated $4 billion in surrounding economic development.<\/p>\n

The legislation would also establish an independent third-party audit committee responsible for issuing annual public reports to ensure that all parties comply with negotiated obligations and financial commitments.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a>A rendering shows the Chicago Bears\u2019 vision for their proposed Arlington Park stadium in Arlington Heights. The team announced in December that it had since expanded its search amid difficulty negotiating for government financial incentives and said earlier this month that it was pursuing northwestern Indiana for its new stadium. | Photo: Manica \/ Chicago Bears<\/p>\n

\u201cIllinois cannot afford to lose one of its most recognizable franchises and the billions of dollars in economic activity that come with it,\u201d McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want major private investment to stay in Illinois, we must provide the same thing that every successful business environment provides: certainty, accountability, and clear rules,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The proposal would include a minimum private investment commitment of $2.5 billion by the Chicago Bears, infrastructure funding support tied to economic development and public improvements, and independent annual audits and public reporting requirements.<\/p>\n

It would also include long-term property tax certainty through negotiated agreements among participating entities, binding 30-year commitments designed to ensure the parties honor their obligations and taxpayer protections through \u201coversight, transparency, and performance\u201d monitoring.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said that the proposal is intended to avoid open-ended taxpayer liability while ensuring Illinois remains competitive with neighboring states seeking to attract major investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about writing blank checks,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cIt is about creating a responsible business framework that protects taxpayers while giving investors the confidence to commit billions of dollars to Illinois. Businesses invest where there is certainty. Taxpayers deserve accountability. The TIPA Act delivers both.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said the proposal could serve as a model for future transformational economic development projects throughout Illinois by creating predictable rules, independent oversight and enforceable protections for taxpayers.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a>A rendering shows the Chicago Bears\u2019 vision for their proposed Arlington Park stadium in Arlington Heights. The team announced in December that it had since expanded its search amid difficulty negotiating for government financial incentives and said earlier this month that it was pursuing northwestern Indiana for its new stadium. | Photo: Manica \/ Chicago Bears<\/p>\n

The proposed legislation comes after the Chicago Bears announced on June 5 that they were advancing their stadium development project in Indiana.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey and President & CEO Kevin Warren said in a joint statement that the Chicago Bears Board of Directors met on June 4 and voted to advance the stadium development project in Hammond, Indiana, \u201cwith the exact site to be selected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe a world-class stadium project in Hammond will transform the region, connecting Northwest Indiana to the South Side of Chicago through the Loop and across neighborhoods and suburbs stretching north of the city. It will bring Chicagoland together and deliver new opportunities to its residents and businesses,\u201d McCaskey and Warren said.<\/p>\n

The Bears previously purchased Arlington Park in Arlington Heights after announcing they were looking to move from Chicago.<\/p>\n

The team said at that time that they were not looking for state funding for stadium construction but were looking for tax certainty from the Illinois General Assembly, which has not happened yet.<\/p>\n

In December, the team announced it had expanded its stadium search to the wider Chicago area and Indiana.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears did not respond to a request for comment from Lake and McHenry County Scanner on McLaughlin\u2019s proposed legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rendering shows the Chicago Bears\u2019 vision for their proposed Arlington Park stadium in Arlington Heights. The team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":920597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[10654,374,692,391,2493,7,92966,122945,932,12896,4556,6],"class_list":["post-920596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bears","tag-arlington-heights","tag-bears","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chicagobears","tag-football","tag-hammond","tag-illinois-state-representative","tag-indiana","tag-legislation","tag-new-stadium","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116760800350566892","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/920597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}