<p>SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers were running the hurry-up offense Thursday as the clock winds down on their effort to advance property tax-incentive legislation intended to help the Chicago Bears build <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadium" target="_blank" ><u>a new stadium</u></a> in Arlington Heights and prevent them from moving to Indiana.</p><p>That was just one of several legislative footballs lingering well short of the goal line late in Springfield’s drive to the end of the spring session — chief among them, passing a roughly $56 billion state budget by the state constitutional deadline of midnight Sunday.</p><p>But Gov. JB Pritzker already has gotten a pair of key legislative wins through the uprights with regulations on auto and home <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfield/2026/05/28/auto-home-insurance-reform-illinois-general-assembly-passage" target="_blank" ><u>insurance companies</u></a> as well as the burgeoning <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfield/2026/05/12/artificial-intelligence-regulation-legislation-illinois-general-assembly-proposals" target="_blank" ><u>artificial intelligence industry</u></a>.</p><p>While a push for new progressive tax revenue streams was at the forefront of the annual spending tug-of-war among Illinois’ super-majority Democrats in a tight budget year, the Bears debate was proving divisive as ever in the five-year stadium saga.</p><p>A month after the House <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-stadium/2026/04/22/bears-stadium-arlington-heights-property-tax-relief-infrastructure-northwest-indiana" target="_blank" ><u>passed a sprawling “megaprojects” bill</u></a> with numerous provisions seeking to draw support from across Illinois, lawmakers were considering paring down proposed legislation that would apply more narrowly to the Bears while punting on the statewide policy for which Pritzker has long advocated. Dozens of other states allow companies to negotiate discounted payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to local governments instead of their full property tax bills, as long as they’re investing in projects of $100 million or more.</p><p>Until this spring, the Bears had been completely blocked in their Capitol drive for PILOT legislation, which they say is needed to slash potential property taxes exceeding $100 million per year if they were to build a dome on the 326-acre plot they own in Arlington Heights.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-5d0000" name="image-5d0000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7eaf296/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1078+0+0/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe6%2Fd6e914954c3fb44b19e1c2355cf1%2Fbears-stadium-rendering-02.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5c17332/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1078+0+0/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe6%2Fd6e914954c3fb44b19e1c2355cf1%2Fbears-stadium-rendering-02.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8dc750b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1078+0+0/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F6b%2Fe6%2Fd6e914954c3fb44b19e1c2355cf1%2Fbears-stadium-rendering-02.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Renderings of the proposed Bears stadium in Arlington Heights.