Indiana House Green-Lights $1 Billion Hammond Bears Stadium Plan, Setting Up Senate Showdown

Indianapolis — Indiana’s House of Representatives voted late Wednesday to approve a sweeping $1 billion public investment package aimed at luring the Chicago Bears across the state line with a brand-new stadium in Hammond, sending the measure to the Senate where passage is widely expected.

The bill, which cleared the House without the dramatic last-minute delays that have stalled Illinois’ rival proposal, would commit state funds and financing mechanisms for a football-specific venue on the Wolf Lake site that Bears executives have quietly scouted for months. If the Senate concurs — and leadership has signaled it will — the legislation will move directly to Governor Eric Holcomb’s desk for final signature.

The rapid Indiana advance drew immediate fire from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who used a prime-time television interview Wednesday night to accuse Hoosier lawmakers of rushing to “raise taxes” without giving voters a clear picture of the long-term cost. “They are going to pay for a stadium for the Chicago Bears,” Pritzker told MS NOW. “I don’t think the people of Indiana have any idea what they are in for.”

Pritzker’s comments came hours after Chicago-area Representative Kam Buckner filed an amendment to House Bill 910 in Springfield, outlining infrastructure-focused tax breaks designed to keep the Bears in Illinois by sweetening a proposed Arlington Heights development on land already owned by the McCaskey family. That revised mega-project legislation, abruptly canceled last week, is now scheduled for committee consideration Thursday morning and could reach the full House floor later in the day.

Despite the dueling proposals, the Bears have remained publicly non-committal. Team officials have toured the Wolf Lake property in Hammond but have not signed any agreements in either state. “Here in Illinois, we continue to have really positive discussions with the Bears,” Pritzker insisted, “and I think you’ll see the progress over time.”

Northwest Indiana officials, meanwhile, are embracing momentum they say is reaching “an all-time high.” Phil Taillon of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority told reporters that “every time we check another box, everybody gets a little more excited about this opportunity.”

The interstate tug-of-war has also galvanized fans in Chicago. Former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn will launch an online petition drive Thursday at the George Halas statue outside Soldier Field, urging supporters to visit beardownforillinois.com and pressure ownership to keep the franchise in its historic home. While Chicago’s lakefront stadium remains technically in contention, city leaders have yet to unveil a financing plan comparable to the billion-dollar offers now on the table in Springfield and Indianapolis.

With Indiana’s Senate poised to act as early as Thursday afternoon, the clock is ticking for Illinois lawmakers to coalesce around a counter-offer before the Bears weigh their options. For now, the next move belongs to the Senate chamber across the border, where a single vote could shift the center of the NFL’s second-largest market and reshape the regional sports landscape for decades.