Indiana is ready and willing to build a stadium for the Bears. Illinois is still trying to prove that it\u2019s able.<\/p>\n
Via the Chicago Sun-Times, the Illinois House of Representatives has passed a bill<\/a> that creates a property-tax incentive for the Bears to build their new venue on property the team owns in Arlington Heights.<\/p>\n The measure, passed by a vote of 78-32, would allow the Bears to skip traditional property taxes in lieu of negotiated (and undoubtedly far lower) payments. The Illinois Senate will now take up the issue.<\/p>\n Tax breaks are a different way to funnel taxpayer money into a stadium project. In lieu of diverting existing public dollars, the Bears would simply be paying fewer dollars to the public.<\/p>\n As explained by Christopher Placek of the Arlington Daily Herald, the 376-page bill<\/a> (which has grown from only 38 pages) is just one of the governmental incentives necessary to persuade the Bears to not cross the border.<\/p>\n However it goes, the clock is ticking on keeping the team from going to a different state. The Bears anticipate knowing whether Illinois will be able to put a deal together by early summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n