00:00The Chicago Bears and their fans want a new stadium, and after years of negotiations and wrangling over where it could be built, the team finally settled on a location earlier this year.
00:11There's just one big roadblock, politics.
00:16Fans, along with business and political leaders, may still be debating where best to build that stadium, but team president Kevin Warren said last week,
00:24the Bears are set on suburban Arlington Heights, some 30 miles from the team's current home, Soldier Field in downtown Chicago.
00:32We are still extremely focused on Arlington Heights, on building our stadium there.
00:40That's the plan. We strongly believe that is the only location in Cook County that will allow us to build a stadium, the new Chicago Bears stadium with a fixed roof.
00:52The Bears, however, need a boost from the state of Illinois in the form of a tax bill that would push the stadium deal over the finish line.
00:59Warren said the legislation will help create 56,000 construction jobs and more than 9,000 permanent jobs.
01:07This is an economic bill that would give people jobs, allow them to work.
01:13To get to work, yes, the Bears would benefit from it, but it's much more than the Bears benefiting from this bill.
01:20The entire state of Illinois would benefit from it.
01:23The Bears hoped what's being called the mega project bill would pass through the state legislature in May, but it didn't even get a vote.
01:31It would have allowed the Bears to negotiate their property taxes with Arlington Heights, as opposed to Cook County's assessment of the property.
01:39The next potential vote on the bill would be in October.
01:42Bears owner and chairman George McCaskey believes lawmakers need a push.
01:46It's on us to convince the governor and the state legislators that this is a good idea for the people of Illinois, and we need to do a better job at that.
02:00This project can be, as Kevin said, transformative.
02:05Critics say the team is using Arlington Heights as a bargaining chip.
02:09State representative Cam Buckner, a former standout on a very good fighting Illini football team, posted on X in May,
02:17Deja vu, the Bears again with the full stadium misdirection package.
02:22A hard count to Bates Springfield, play action fake to sell the lakefront dream, then a double reverse back to Arlington.
02:30This isn't a development plan.
02:31It's a master class in stadium whiplash.
02:34And it isn't over.
02:35Warren said the stadium design is nearly done, and they are having weekly meetings with Arlington Heights officials.
02:42If the tax bill passes in October, they hope to, quote, move some dirt later this year and officially break ground next year.
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