$53 Billion Budget Passes in Illinois House, No Funding for Chicago Bears Stadium…
On Wednesday morning, after a long session, the Illinois House passed a $53 billion budget.
This new budget allocates increased funding for municipalities, schools, road projects, and migrant organizations. Notably, the Chicago Bears will not receive any public funding for their stadium plans.
The budget includes an additional $350 million for public schools statewide, $187 million to address the migrant crisis, and $400 million for migrant healthcare. New revenue will be generated from $200 million in new taxes on sports gambling and $526 million by capping the amount businesses can write off. The budget passed largely along party lines.
Governor JB Pritzker lauded the budget, saying, “We’ve balanced the budget for six years in a row now, we’ve paid down all of our short-term debt, and credit rating agencies say we’re in a much better situation now than we’ve been in many years.”
The Chicago Bears, however, did not fare as well. The General Assembly did not pass any legislation related to public funding for a new domed lakefront stadium. Senate President Don Harmon explained the decision.
“There’s really no appetite to put public taxpayer dollars into sports stadiums benefiting billion-dollar franchises, and to date, nobody has made a compelling argument why this is good for the city or good for the state, not just for the Bears or White Sox,” Harmon stated.
The Bears responded with a statement, “We look forward to continuing to meet with elected officials, community leaders, business leaders, residents, and fans to collaborate on ways to make this massive economic development project for Illinois a reality.”
Any further action on the Bears’ stadium will have to wait until the fall when lawmakers return for their veto session, at which point bills will require a two-thirds majority to pass.
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