CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears’ potential move to Indiana took another step forward on Thursday when a key committee approved a plan to create an agency that would help get a stadium built.
The Indiana House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee passed a bill establishing a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to finance, construct and lease a stadium by a 24-0 margin. The Bears are looking at a tract of land near Wolf Lake in Hammond, Ind.
“The passage of SB 27 would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date,” the team said in a statement. “We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana.”
Republican Gov. Mike Braun and lawmakers in Indiana have been aggressive in trying to lure the founding NFL franchise across the state line amid a yearslong effort to build an enclosed stadium in Illinois. The Bears did not mention Illinois in their statement.
The Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee was scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday morning on a bill that would allow the Bears and any other developer of a large enough project to negotiate long-term property tax rates with local taxing bodies. But that got canceled.
“Illinois was ready to move this bill forward,” Matt Hill, a spokesman for Gov. JB Pritzker, posted on X. “After a productive three-hour meeting yesterday, the Bears leaders requested the (Illinois General Assembly) pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois.”