Indiana’s offer to help build a multi-billion dollar stadium is officially on the table — now it is up to the Chicago Bears to decide whether they will cross the state line.
State senators voted 45-4 Thursday to give final legislative approval to the plan for establishing a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority in Hammond and allowing increased county restaurant, hotel and admission taxes for the project. Gov. Mike Braun signed the measure into law within about an hour of the vote.
Despite Indiana officials saying about $1 billion in tax revenue could go toward stadium district infrastructure, the Bears haven’t committed to the Hammond site and remain in talks over a possible move to the northwestern Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.
An Illinois House committee also endorsed on Thursday a bill that would stem property tax increases for a new stadium and other future “megaprojects.” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said this week there was “broad agreement” on that plan.
Indiana negotiations continuing
Indiana Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Ryan Mishler pointed to the wide margins of support in both the Senate and House as showing “Indiana’s commitment to the Chicago Bears, and it presents us with an opportunity to further foster our working relationship with them.”
“I look forward to continued conversations with the Bears’ leadership team as we work to bring the Bears to Indiana,” said Mishler, who is the bill’s lead Senate sponsor.
Senate Bill 27 won House approval earlier in the week and now goes to Gov. Mike Braun, who has supported the plan with state Public Finance Director Jim McGoff as a lead negotiator with the Bears.
Braun talked about the project on ESPN’s Pat McAfee show Thursday, saying 2029 is the goal to actually build the stadium.
He acknowledged due diligence is still being done on the project and it could take a month or two to ink a deal.
“That doesn’t mean, in the meantime, something couldn’t waylay it, but I think they … really now (have) got a good look at what it’s like doing business in a place like Indiana, and it’s going to be a lot easier to run a business over the next 40 or 50 years than it would be there,” Braun said.
No Bears officials made public appearances at the Statehouse in connection with Thursday’s Senate vote — even with the NFL’s annual player scouting combine underway four blocks away at Lucas Oil Stadium
The Bears said in a statement that “Indiana has taken important steps over the last few months, and we are grateful for the leadership reflected by Governor Braun signing SB 27 establishing the framework for a stadium development in Northwest Indiana.”
“We continue to work on the necessary due diligence and appreciate the ongoing engagement with Indiana state and local leaders,” the statement said.
The team expressed a similar stance on the Illinois legislation.
“We recognize and appreciate the advancement of mega project legislation by the Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee, and we look forward to continued engagement as the lawmakers determine the legislative path forward,” the Bears statement said.
Tax hikes face some local opposition
The Indiana financing plan calls for capturing taxes from a new stadium development district, along with revenue from a 12% admissions tax on stadium events, a doubling of Lake County’s 5% hotel tax (where Hammond is located) and a 1% food-and-beverage tax in both Lake and Porter counties.
Possibly complicating Indiana talks is some opposition to those possible tax increases.
Numerous political, business and labor union leaders from Lake and Porter counties testified at the Statehouse last week in favor of the stadium bill.
But some Porter County officials have since said a Hammond stadium about 20 miles away wouldn’t have much financial impact there and that few Bears fans from Illinois would be spending time in Valparaiso or Portage.
“The City of Hammond and our state government are entitled to offer the Bears all the subsidies that they think their taxpayers can afford to pay,” Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs told the Northwest Indiana Times. “I believe that intelligent investors already know that investing in an NFL stadium is not the can’t-miss economic investment that some people would like us to believe.”
Pritzker has raised the specter of such tax opposition among northwest Indiana residents.
“Do they want to raise their taxes to pay for a stadium in the state of Indiana for the Chicago Bears?” Pritzker said. “We’ll see.”
Indiana lawmakers worked in recent weeks to push through the stadium bill ahead of Friday’s expected adjournment of this year’s legislative session. The Illinois Legislature, meanwhile, is scheduled to meet until late May.
One Lake County senator, Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, expressed confidence during Thursday’s debate of local support for the stadium financing.
“I don’t think anybody that lives in northwest Indiana is going to have a problem with the way this is set up, the way it looks, the way it’s going to be financed,” Niemeyer said. “We should give the Bears a lot to think about to come here.”
The four votes against the bill came from Sens. Liz Brown, Chris Garten, Gary Byrne and Tyler Johnson – all Republicans.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.