In previous surveys, an overwhelming majority of respondents in our district made clear that you do not support using public dollars to fund a stadium for the Chicago Bears given their status as a private, multi-billion-dollar organization. I take that feedback seriously, and it has informed my approach to this issue.

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At the same time, recent developments--including the genuine possibility of the Chicago Bears relocating out of Illinois, rather than simply moving within the state--raise new economic and regional considerations for whether to provide public funds to the organization. Estimates of the team’s total annual economic impact on the region (research conducted by HR&A Advisors and commissioned by the Bears) are generally in the hundreds of millions of dollars when accounting for direct and indirect spending.

Given these changing circumstances, it's appropriate to revisit the conversation and ensure I have an up-to-date understanding of where our community stands. Any potential state participation could involve substantial taxpayer resources. These are dollars that could otherwise support priorities such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, or property tax relief, and I remain committed to weighing those tradeoffs carefully.

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