Illinois House Punts on Bears Stadium Bill, Leaving Team One Step Closer to Indiana

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its spring session Monday morning without giving the Chicago Bears the property-tax certainty the franchise has demanded for years, and the clock on keeping the team in state is now running on fumes.

The Illinois Senate did its part, voting 37-17 with bipartisan support at roughly 3:30 a.m. Monday on an amended stadium financing bill, according to reporting by Capitol News Illinois. But across the rotunda, the House never took up the measure. Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch told his caucus there was "a lot of work still ahead of us" and told reporters he believed the legislature would address the stadium question "sooner than later" - but not in a special session.

That is not a comforting message for a team that has been waiting on Springfield for three years.

The Bears have said for years they need "tax certainty" to move forward with a new stadium. For three consecutive legislative cycles, the team pushed for a megaprojects bill that would have let them negotiate a lower property tax payment for up to 40 years, as reported by Capitol News Illinois. That approach had the backing of Gov. JB Pritzker and passed the House last month. It collapsed in the Senate, with members uneasy about the effect on local property tax revenue and, frankly, uneasy about being seen as paying a private NFL franchise to leave Chicago.

So Sen. Bill Cunningham, the bill's Democratic sponsor from Chicago, went back to the drawing board overnight Sunday and came up with a different structure - one that would allow Cook County municipalities with populations above 70,000 to create stadium authorities empowered to own and finance professional sports facilities. Under the framework, revenue bonds could be issued to fund construction, backed by local tax revenue and STAR bond designation tied to future state sales tax from any surrounding development district.

The catch, and the Bears will notice this, is the word "own." The authority would hold title to the facility, not the Bears. Cunningham acknowledged to reporters that the mechanism is "the exact same" one set up in Northwest Indiana - the very alternative the Bears have been dangling over Springfield's head.

The Bears have been direct about their two live options: a privately-owned stadium in Arlington Heights, Illinois, or a publicly owned site near Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana. The new Senate bill pointed toward a publicly-owned Illinois path, but the House never even voted on it.

Where does that leave things? According to Capitol News Illinois, without legislative action before the session ended, any bill passed in a future session would need a three-fifths supermajority to take effect before July 2027. That still fits within the project's broader timeline, but it narrows the margin for error considerably.

Rep. Kam Buckner said Monday that "this morning was the end of session" - not the end of the conversation. That is the kind of line that plays well in a press release and means very little to a franchise that has been hearing variations of it since before Caleb Williams threw his first NFL pass.

The Bears released a statement after the session ended, per NBC Chicago, but did not signal a decision on their stadium location. They do not need to. Every month Springfield does not act is another month Hammond looks more attractive.

This is what it looks like when a state legislature fumbles the ball in overtime. The Senate worked through the night to put a credible offer on the field. The House went home. And an NFL franchise that has played in Illinois since 1921 now has one fewer reason to stay.

Sources cited:
- Capitol News Illinois (https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/illinois-lawmakers-fail-to-pass-bears-bill-despite-goal-line-push/)
- WTTW Chicago News (https://news.wttw.com/2026/06/01/illinois-lawmakers-fail-pass-bears-stadium-bill-despite-goal-line-push)
- NBC Chicago (https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-bears-release-statement-after-55b-illinois-budget-passes-without-stadium-bill/3942691/)
- Windy City Gridiron (https://www.windycitygridiron.com/chicago-bears-news/117020/chicago-bears-stadium-bill-fails-to-pass-illinois-legislature)