Indiana lawmakers advanced a bill to fund the construction of a new stadium for the Chicago Bears in Hammond in the latest effort to lure the team away from Illinois.
The team has called the legislation "the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date," earlier this month.
What we know:
The Indiana state House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bill, SB 27, with a 95-4 vote on Tuesday. The bill will still need to be passed by the Indiana State Senate and then signed by Gov. Mike Braun to go into effect.
The legislation creates "various funding mechanisms" to build the stadium in Hammond, according to State Rep. Carolyn Jackson’s office (D-Hammond).
"This is the first time I’ve seen local officials and the state come together to make a dream a reality in such a short time. Everybody wants progress, and I am thankful Northwest Indiana has been bold enough to step towards it," Jackson said in a statement. "This will bring the entire region together. One city’s progress affects another city’s progress. We will all benefit from the thousands of new jobs created, the influx of new tourists and the millions in revenue generated at our hotels and restaurants."
Braun said Indiana has identified a promising site near Wolf Lake in Hammond for the stadium.
The movement by Indiana state lawmakers comes as the Chicago Bears have widened their search beyond Illinois for a new stadium home.
The Bears have pushed for a bill in the Illinois legislature to allow them to negotiate their property tax burden to build a new domed stadium in suburban Arlington Heights, but that bill was not taken up in the General Assembly last year. Illinois state lawmakers said they were more focused on other issues like rescuing the Chicago region’s transit system from a fiscal cliff.
But in recent weeks, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other officials have voiced more support for efforts to keep the Bears in the state. Fox Chicago’s Paris Schutz reported this week that team officials and state lawmakers were meeting to discuss the property tax legislation.
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