In light of the recent talks on the Bears stadium, I want to reaffirm where I stand.
Yes, I want the Bears in Illinois.
No, I do not want taxpayers buying them a stadium to convince them to stay.
Governor Pritzker and other Democratic leaders sat down with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Bears minority owner Pat Ryan. Pritzker called it a “helpful meeting” with “all the right players at the table.” More to the point, he expects legislation after the election, most likely in the fall veto session.
That means taxpayers should start paying very close attention.
I am highly skeptical of that legislation. Not that it won’t come, because it will. We will have a bill. I do not believe it will be written for you, the taxpayer. You will be an afterthought, the way you usually are under Governor Pritzker and the Democratic supermajority.
Look at who was in the room. A billionaire governor, an NFL commissioner, a billionaire businessman, and a few chosen lawmakers. This closed meeting was a dinner party, and the feast was your tax dollars, passed around by people who do not have to pay the check. I guess your invitation got lost in the mail.
Pritzker tries to talk tough for the taxpayers. Actions still speak louder than words. His record in this state says this will be a bad deal for you and me.
I don’t have to remind you. We now have the largest budget in state history, nearly $56 billion. Spending is up 40 percent since Governor Pritzker took office. That’s seven years of watching you and your family tighten your belts, cut expenses, delay purchases and make hard financial decisions, while Springfield did the opposite.
Pritzker has spent billions on illegal immigrants. Not on you. Not on the people who pay taxes and keep this state running.
This year alone, about $150 million has gone to programs for people who are not supposed to be here.
Then there are the tax and fee hikes to pay for it. Pritzker has hiked state taxes and fees 57 times. Motor fuel taxes, vehicle registration fees, parking garage taxes, online sales taxes. He has found a way to take more from you.
He has taxed so much that some of the new ones may not even be legal. They are being challenged in court. Both the digital asset tax and the targeted advertising tax may violate federal law and constitutional protections. That is how far this has gone in a state that already has some of the worst property taxes, cellphone taxes, gas taxes and overall tax burdens in the country.
None of that gives me confidence. If Governor Pritzker has proved anything, it is that your family’s budget is not what guides his. He will keep taking more.
The frustrating part is that some people in the legislature know how to balance a budget, find tax relief, cut spending, and, in this case, write a Bears bill that keeps the team here without sticking you with the tab.
Unfortunately, Pritzker and the Democrats who spend every dollar they can get their hands on have shut Republicans out of the stadium talks.
Maybe our invitation got lost with yours.
Fixing the state’s tax problem would take time and answers the governor and his supermajority have not offered, and do not seem interested in offering.
So, when the legislature returns for veto session, watch closely.
I hope the Governor proves my skepticism wrong. I hope the final proposal protects taxpayers, keeps the Bears in Illinois and does not create another expensive Springfield commitment that families are expected to finance for decades.
But hope is not a fiscal policy.
Before I vote for any Bears stadium legislation, I want to know who benefits, who assumes the risk and, most importantly, who pays the bill.
If the answer to that last question is Illinois taxpayers, they should not expect my vote.
