No love for new Bears stadium from Illinois' top Democrats

Blue Room Stream

Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren’s glitzy new lakefront stadium proposal was met with a resounding no by the state’s top Democrats on Wednesday.

At least for now.

Noticeably absent from the Bears unveiling, Gov. J.B. Pritzker echoed previous public statements and again brushed aside the latest proposal — which includes more than $2 billion in private funds from the Bears but still requires taxpayer subsidies, saying it "isn’t one that I think the taxpayers are interested in getting engaged in.”

The cost of the project is estimated at $4.7 billion — with $900 million coming from 40-year bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which are backed by the city's 2% hotel tax. But it also includes at least $325 million in taxpayer-backed infrastructure improvements to make the stadium and Museum Campus more accessible.

And that's just to start the project. It would require another $1.2 billion in subsequent phases.

“I’m highly skeptical of the proposal that’s been made, and I believe strongly that this is not a high priority for legislators and certainly not for me, when I compare it to all the other things,” Pritzker said at an unrelated press conference in southwest suburban New Lenox.

The Democratic governor noted that even on-field success has not helped in other cities like Kansas City, where voters rejected a measure that would have helped fund renovations for Arrowhead Stadium, home to the NFL's Super Bowl champion Chiefs, and a new ballpark for the Royals.

“Maybe one lesson that can be learned just from the last few years is stadium deals, and taxpayers putting money forward for stadium deals, [are] not particularly popular around the country. Take note that the winner of the Super Bowl this year, the team went out to try to get the stadium financed by the public and it was rejected by the public in a place where the Super Bowl champions reside," Pritzker said.

"And I think this is a recognition that these are private businesses. That the owners of these private businesses need to put a lot more forward ... [to] have their dreams fulfilled and not just rely upon the taxpayers of Illinois to make that happen for them.”

Later, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, publicly squashed the Bears chances of getting legislation passed during the current legislative session, which is scheduled to adjourn on May 24 but is likely to extend into the waning days of May.

“I want to say to you publicly what I said to Kevin Warren privately last week. If we were to put this issue on the board for a vote right now, it would fail, and it would fail miserably,” Welch said at a separate press conference in Maywood. “There’s no environment for something like this today. Now, in Springfield, environments change. Will that environment change within the next 30 days? I think that’s highly unlikely.”

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, issued a statement showing he, like Pritzker, was cautious at best.

“At first glance, more than $2 billion in private funding is better than zero and a more credible opening offer," he said. “But there’s an obvious, substantial gap remaining, and I echo the governor’s skepticism.”