Senator says taxpayers should get best stadium deal possible
[November 14, 2026]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – As the Illinois General Assembly considers stadium
legislation, the list of potential sites for a new Chicago Bears
facility has grown.
Developers have pitched sites on Chicago’s Southeast Side, on a former
hospital site in the Bronzeville neighborhood and in Bridgeport, where
the White Sox have played for over a century.
State Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, told The Center Square on Friday that
he is a lifelong Bears fan.
“I want to see them in Chicago, but I also want to see that the
taxpayers get the best deal possible,” Sims said.
State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, said the Bears are moving toward
a stadium authority model.
“I think there are now four different proposals for a Bears stadium
somewhere within the city of Chicago, some of them conceived by major
real estate developers,” Cunningham said during a Lincoln Forum panel
last week.
The Chicago Democrat said House Bill 958 Senate Amendment 2 is neutral
with regard to location.
“The bill we actually passed in the Senate would allow any municipality
in Cook County with population over 70,000 to set up a stadium
authority,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said the legislation is not only for the Bears.
“Any professional sports franchise could use it as a potential vehicle
for building a privately financed but publicly owned stadium. That's the
approach that I think is most likely to move forward as we get back to
Springfield.
State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said the sort of public private
partnership in Cunningham’s proposal could be good.
“Ultimately, though, should we fall short on sales revenue, who's on the
hook? I do not believe that the state should be on the hook,” Rezin said
during the Lincoln Forum.
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The Arlington Park Metra stop adjacent to property owned by the
Chicago Bears and the potential home to a new stadium in Arlington
Heights, Illinois. Jon Styf / The Center Square
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said many times that protecting taxpayers is
his first priority.
If the Bears build on land they already own in Arlington Heights,
Rolling Meadows Mayor Lara Sanoica and Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz,
a former Bears linebacker, want Cunningham’s legislation to include
an amendment that would provide their respective suburbs with
stadium authority board seats.
“A seat on the authority makes sure the transportation,
infrastructure and public safety needs of our residents are part of
the conversation from the start,” Schwantz said in a press release
issued on Thursday.
The Palatine Village Council is scheduled to take up a resolution
supporting the amendment at a meeting on Monday evening.
The Rolling Meadows City Council plans to consider the same on
Tuesday.
Pritzker has said that the state would not build a stadium for the
Bears, but he would be willing to have the state pay for
infrastructure around a new facility as the state does for other
businesses.
Greg Bishop and Sean Reed contributed to this story
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