Report: State lawmakers won’t act on Bears or White Sox stadium funding requests in waning spring session

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Lawmakers are still working on the state budget after Democrats in charge of the House and Senate went through their self-imposed deadline last week Friday.

So, according to a Chicago Tribune report this weekend, state lawmakers won’t be taking any action on public funding requests by either the Bears or the White Sox to help finance new stadium projects before the state legislature adjourns for the spring.

According to the report, state Sen. Bill Cunningham of Chicago, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, said there would be no action on the Bears’ request for over $2 billion in public funding for the new lakefront stadium plan the team proposed in April.

State Rep. Kam Buckner of Chicago, a member of House Democratic leadership whose district includes Soldier Field, also said the Bears’ new stadium plans aren’t on the legislative agenda as the session draws to a close, the Tribune reports.

Additionally, the report says, Cunningham said there would also be no movement during the spring legislative session on requests for public funding by the White Sox for their proposed new stadium in the South Loop .

The report also notes that no legislation was even formally announced for either the Bears or White Sox stadium proposals during the spring session.

Given the reticence shown thus far by state lawmakers to back public funding for new stadiums, the Bears and White Sox will have their work cut out for them to gain any approval on public funding if and when state lawmakers put the issue on their legislative agendas.

In their proposal for a domed lakefront stadium just south of where Soldier Field is now, the Bears said they will contribute just over $2 billion, plus $300 million would also come from an NFL fund to build stadiums.

But the Bears are still asking for significant public funding , including $900 million in bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. The team also wants the ISFA to refinance hundreds of millions in outstanding debt for a previous renovation of Soldier Field and the construction of Guaranteed Rate Field, where the White Sox play now.

While Mayor Brandon Johnson has backed the Bears on their new stadium proposal, officials from Gov. JB Pritzker’s office have called the proposal a “non-starter” for the state.

State lawmakers have also issued calls for the Bears and White Sox to work together on new stadium plans and to include other Chicago pro sports teams , such as the Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Now, with the state legislature about to adjourn for the spring and no stadium talks on the agenda, officials with the Bears, White Sox and other Chicago teams would appear to have ample time to work on their sales pitches to state lawmakers.

“I think a proposal of this magnitude deserves sunlight and scrutiny,” Buckner said at the State Capitol on Saturday, according to the Tribune report. “And very often what has happened in this building is that things get rammed through at the last minute without much public input or transparency.

“So I welcome conversations that will probably begin to happen once we’re done here.”

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