Good morning, Bears fans!
Welp. We’ve reached the point of the Bears stadium story where the team will either have to admit they were bluffing or actually pack up the moving vans and hit the Skyway for the move to Hammond.
What a night in Springfield.
— Kevin Kaduk
"We will finalize our evaluation of both Arlington Heights and Hammond, and remain on the late spring/early summer timeline that we have previously communicated. We will provide an update when we have a decision to share."
01 Stadium News
Illinois House tables vote on amended bill
A head-spinning weekend in Springfield ended just hours ago. The Senate passed an amended bill around 3:30 am in a bid to keep the Bears in state around, but the House decided to adjourn the spring session about an hour late without passing the bill. More below.
02 Pop Culture
Rumor/Leak: Caleb’s on Madden 27
Twenty-six of the 39 Madden editions have featured an athlete, but none have worn a Chicago Bears uniform. If the weekend leaks are true, that will change on Thursday, when EA Sports is scheduled to hold an event in Chicago to unveil its newest cover subject.
03 NFC North
Vikings hire new GM
It’s Nolan Teasley, who spent the last 14 years with the Seahawks, including the last four as assistant GM. Matthew Coller of Purple Insider has more.
1️⃣0️⃣4️⃣ Days Until The Season Opener
🎂Bears Birthdays: Shane Matthews (56), Mike Wells (55), Craig Clemons (77)
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Nothing Doing In Springfield
So on the good chance you decided to enjoy your weekend and then get a good night’s sleep last night, here’s a quick synopsis of what you missed from the Illinois legislature:
(Full disclosure: I am not a political writer, nor have I ever wanted to be, so what follows is my best attempt at summing everything up. Brenden Moore of Capitol News Illinois was on every twist and turn if that’s what you’re looking for.)
The long-discussed “Megaprojects Bill” died on Saturday night after state senator Bill Cunningham said there weren’t enough votes to pass it through the Senate.
Cunningham’s bombshell: Chicago legislators wanted back in on the process and the senator again claimed the team had held several undisclosed meetings with the city over recent months.
That led to an amended 145-page bill that dropped in the Senate late Sunday night and allowed for the creation of a special stadium financing authority for any Cook County municipality over 70,000 people.
The bill is similar to Indiana’s in that it creates a situation in which the stadium is privately funded, but publicly owned … a setup that prevents the Bears from having to pay any property tax.
The bill passed through the Senate at 3:39 am with a 37-17 vote, but was not called to a vote by the House before it adjourned about an hour later.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch told Moore his chamber wasn’t going to vote on a bill so quickly put together without closer examination. He also said the stadium issue will be resolved “sooner rather than later” but not through a special summer session.
The Bears released the statement at the top of this newsletter, reiterating their late spring/early summer decision timeline and their binary choice between Arlington Heights and Hammond (with no mention of Chicago).
As I’ve said before, I hate writing about the Bears search for a new stadium.
Nothing ever stays true for more than a day and the process never ends.
That said, it really does feel like we’ve reached a fork in the road here.
With Illinois politicians not scheduled to meet again until fall, the Bears have a decision to make if they want to get shovels in the ground (or slag heap) as soon as possible.
Either they’re serious about crossing state lines and starting to build on a site that leaves an overwhelming portion of their fanbase less than enthused.
Or they have to admit they were bluffing on Hammond while they wait for Illinois politicians to give them the tax certainty needed to obtain financing for the stadium.
Are we having fun yet?
The King of Chicago …. (WGN has the video)
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