Mayor Johnson heads to Springfield this week with plan to talk about Chicago Bears stadium

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson is heading to Springfield this week, and one of the items on his agenda is the future of the Chicago Bears.

This comes as the so-called mega projects bill is now in the hands of the Illinois Senate.

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While the Senate considers modifications to the bill that passed out of the Illinois House last month, it seems Mayor Johnson is still holding out hope of keeping the Bears in Chicago, and he wants to talk to lawmakers about it.

The "mega projects bill" that would pave the way for the Bears to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights is not on the Senate's agenda for consideration this week.

But it is on Mayor Johnson's mind as he heads to Springfield for meetings with lawmakers on Wednesday and Thursday.

"I hope that his efforts would be aimed at getting the best and most productive version of this bill for local municipalities. I think the mayor, the governor and all legislators at this point seem to realize that the only feasible option in Illinois is Arlington Heights," said Ernie Rose, co-founder of Touchdown Arlington.

The "mega projects," or Payment in Lieu of Taxes, bill would freeze for decades the property tax bill for the Bears for a stadium proposed for the old Arlington Racetrack property that the team owns. In exchange, the Bears would make a Payment in Lieu of Taxes to the local taxing bodies.

A portion of that payment would go to statewide property tax relief. But an analysis the governor's office provided to lawmakers this week about the impact of the plan determined, "The Illinois House PILOT proposal spreads limited revenue across millions of homeowners, resulting in negligible property tax relief for Illinoisians."

A hypothetical $20 million PILOT payment would result in about $1.29 of property tax relief per homeowner.

"What we did in the House was saying, 'let's do something that no other mega project piece legislation has done in this country, which is put people at the center of it.' And in a perfect world, we'll be able to use that revenue source to create some more substantial property tax relief. But we've never said that this was a silver bullet. We said that this is a start," said state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago.

Gov. JB Pritzker and the Bears have said the bill needs some work. The governor has said the Senate needs to move expeditiously on whatever changes it will make.

"I have full faith and trust in them to arrive at a conclusion that works for all parties that are interested, including the city of Chicago. And so I don't know what it looks like, but I'm sure there'll be a robust conversations this week," Buckner said.

Discussions with lawmakers about revenue, specifically the governor's budget plan that would reduce the funding that goes to municipalities from state income taxes, are also on the mayor's Springfield agenda.

ABC7 Chicago's Craig Wall will travel to Springfield Tuesday night to cover the mayor's trip, which he is expected to preview during a press briefing Tuesday.