It’s been nearly five years since my first column about Lake Forest’s professional football team seeking to move its gameday operations from a stadium it leases in Chicago to a privately owned development.
“Sports owners have notoriously short arms when it comes to their own deep pockets but gladly open their palms wide for public handouts,” I wrote June 23, 2021. “Any talk of the Bears moving, or luring an Olympics or Final Four, should trigger warning sirens for anyone concerned about government waste.”
It’s been an easy position to hold over the ensuing 1,800 days, one worth revisiting on the approach to an artificial deadline for deciding how much future elected officials are willing to mortgage in the name of private business.
Remember, the team’s lease on Soldier Field runs through 2033, and there are no indications the city would refuse to renew. Yes, there are incentives on the table should the family want to develop a biohazard site in northwestern Indiana. Yes, it’s been more than three years since the family paid $197.2 million to buy the former horse racing complex in Arlington Heights. Yes, the Illinois General Assembly ends its spring session Sunday. But no, none of those truths cast doubt about where the Bears will play the Minnesota Vikings Sept. 20.
I could use my space the rest of the year revisiting the many ways the Bears made all this harder than necessary, but perhaps my favorite quote of the saga comes from a December 2022 statement by Rep. Kam Buckner, the Chicago Democrat whose district includes the current stadium:
“Profits have ballooned for the Bears, but Chicago taxpayers still owe over $640 million” from the 2002 Soldier Field renovation, Buckner wrote. “Giving the Bears another gift-wrapped subsidy should not be on our list of priorities. Are the Bears ready to look taxpayers in the face and say why they deserve funding that could be going toward public safety, education and essential services?”
Consider that determination in the context of Tuesday’s Capitol News Illinois Insider report parsing the Cook County Treasurer’s Office analysis panning current proposals. But that math is murky given its reliance on hypothetical assessments, not to mention limitations of the family, urging focus on the stadium versus nine-figure infrastructure demands and larger questions about the remainder of the planned complex.
It’s been five years. There aren’t real plans; the only details we do have make it clear the team will only build if it gets to dictate property tax obligations, and now people who once stood firm against handouts are talking about making the best deal as if false urgency warranted reconsidering principles.
How many lawmakers who know better will still choose poorly?
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
Top Feeds,Politics
via Shaw Local https://ift.tt/2o0fCvA
May 28, 2026 at 10:03AM
Illinois Delivered 