IL House adjourns before voting, IN lawmakers take up Chicago Bears stadium bill Thursday

The battle is on.

Members of the Illinois House of Representatives adjourned Thursday without voting on a Chicago Bears bill.

They will not return to Springfield until March 18.

The House Public Finance Committee was expected to take up the bill Thursday that would freeze property taxes for mega projects like a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights.

The state has thus far failed to commit to infrastructure improvements and property tax certainty.

An amendment from Chicago-area state Rep. Kam Buckner outlines tax breaks on infrastructure the state would provide to entice the Bears to build in Arlington Heights, where the McCaskey family already owns the old Arlington Racetrack.

Gov. JB Pritzker spoke about the battle over the Bears on MS NOW.

"I am not going to be shaken down, and I have set out some very clear guidelines. And my guidelines are we are not going to fleece the taxpayers of the state of Illinois. We are not going to let the Bears do that," Pritzker said.

If it passes, the bill then would go before the full House. Pritzker would then need to sign it.

Arlington Heights residents and some Bears fans showed up in Springfield Thursday.

"The Bears belong in Illinois, period. George Stanley Halas would be turning over in his grave if he knew they would even get out of the city of Chicago let alone the state of Illinois," Bears fan Marty Tadla said.

The revised mega-project bill was supposed to be heard last week, but got canceled at the last minute.

In Indiana, lawmakers are considering legislation Thursday for a new Chicago Bears stadium.

The state's full Senate is expected to pass their version of a bill Thursday, clearing the way to fund a stadium in Hammond

The city of Chicago is still technically in the running to keep the Bears.