Pritzker: ‘It is [the Bears’] choice as a private business about where they’re gonna go’

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker expressed skepticism regarding proposals that would reduce taxes or provide public funding to the Chicago Bears football team as they attempt to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights, according to a FOX 32 news article published on Wednesday.

While he is still hoping that the Bears will remain in Chicago, Pritzker also acknowledged that they have strong financial reasons to leave Solider Field for a new city.

“I’m rooting for the Bears,” Pritzker said. “I’m also a Chicagoan, I’d love it if they stayed in Chicago, but it is their choice as a private business about where they’re gonna go,” said Pritzker.

The Bears and their political allies have unveiled artists’ renderings of the football-oriented complex that they hope to build on the former site of the Arlington International Race Course. Both parties have tried promoting several different measures to begin construction, but none of them have been acted on so far.

Arlington Heights mayor Thomas Hayes said that the Bears need what he referred to as “tax certainty” from their financial planning.

State Representative Martin Moylan is currently working on a proposal that would send Chicago millions of dollars to compensate for the loss of the team and provide the Bears with financial support as well.

“I want to make Chicago whole,” Moylan said. “I think we should make Chicago whole if they’re going to leave, and it’s not gonna cost the Bears anything and it’s not going to cost the state anything.”

Moylan told FOX 32 that he is confident that a compromise will be reached before the State General Assembly adjourns in May, adding that he is currently talking to stakeholders about possibly implementing a $3 tax on all tickets sold at the Arlington Heights stadium. The tax would not just apply to football games, but also to concerts and other public events held at the venue.