Politics
Not Waiting for Dems, State Rep. Ugaste Proposes New Bears Bill
It’s been just over two months since the Illinois House of Representatives passed a so-called megaprojects bill, intended to incentivize the Chicago Bears to build a new stadium in Illinois.
The events since then have been replayed and reviewed, with fans waiting to hear which calls, if any, might be overturned.
There was the last-minute debate over a different incentives package that passed the state Senate, but did not reach a vote in the House. Then, the Bears announced the team would move forward with plans for a stadium in Hammond, Indiana.
Now — despite the team’s stated plans — Illinois lawmakers are still working to keep the team in the Prairie State.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) said he has a plan to get a new megaprojects bill across the finish line. And although any Republican-led initiative faces an uphill battle in the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a supermajority, he still thinks there’s time to push talks forward.
“(The Bears) haven’t said, ‘OK, we’re done. We don’t want to talk anymore, we don’t want to hear from you, we are moving to Indiana,’” Ugaste said. “There’s at least one site we know they’re very interested in, in Illinois, and that’s Arlington Heights. … A couple other sites within Cook County have been proposed as well.”
A challenge facing all proposals is how to give the Bears the property tax certainty they desire without burdening individual taxpayers.
The original bill, House Bill 910, would have allowed megaproject developers to negotiate a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), with half of the negotiated payment distributed to homeowners for property tax relief. One analysis from the Cook County Treasurer’s Office estimated the fund would only provide each homeowner a few dollars worth of relief, if distributed across the entire county.
Ugaste, who voted against that bill, said he did not think the plan went far enough. Instead, his plan would extend statewide relief to homeowners and businesses.
Another key point is a change to referendum rules. Ugaste is proposing moving referendums on property tax levies and bond renewals to the general election, rather than in primaries or consolidated elections.
“I don’t think you really get the whole community’s input on whether or not they want their property taxes to increase to fund whatever project it is that’s being proposed,” Ugaste said. “If we put (referendums) on the general election ballot, … we get a true sense of what the community wants. They could be for it, they could be against it, it’s up to them.”
A big question hanging over the discussion — what do the Bears want?
While fielding questions after a news conference on Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker laid out what he would like to see from the team.
“It takes a bill, and that’s really what we need (the Bears) to put together, are the provisions of the bill,” Pritzker said. “… Then they need to go and talk to people about the various provisions to get support for it.”
Ugaste said he has intentionally not met with the Bears about his plan, but he would be willing to change the bill based on feedback from team representatives when they see it. While he has not yet filed the bill, he said it will be coming soon.
Regardless of how his plan might change, Ugaste hopes it serves as a starting point for bipartisan negotiations.
“You have to work across the aisle, because I don’t know that the votes are there on the Democrat side of the aisle alone,” Ugaste said. “Because it appears they’re not.”
