Jeff Buchholz

We're going to pay $2 billion to do that.

And the governor has said, Governor Pritzker has said, I'm down with helping them with infrastructure around wider roads, better water delivery, whatever they need to do.

And so what we're talking about now is this bill, this pilot bill that would let the bears get some certainty, as Layla points out, in how much property taxes they're going to be paying on this development in the meantime.

It doesn't seem like a big lift.

But it is because you've got a lot of different interests involved.

The lawmakers who represent Chicago are not super crazy about giving the Bears any assistance in leaving Soldier Field, which, of course, they'll be in until 2033.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the final version of whatever this bill is includes some way, A, to take care of the remaining debt on the Soldier Field renovation from 20-some-odd years ago, and to...

Make the city of Chicago in some way whole for losing the bears to the suburbs.

Right.

So there's that tax which you mentioned.

There's a hotel occupancy tax that would take effect for that general area.

It's a pretty sizable chunk.

And in the debate in the Indiana House yesterday, the House Speaker Todd Houston finished up.

right before the vote and made the point that the bonds—and they're going to have to borrow money to build this stadium.

That's clear.

The bonds that they will issue in order to get that money will be paid for with revenue that comes from that area, from those taxes, that higher restaurant tax, the

higher hotel occupancy tax, whatever higher tolls are paid for on drivers.

And he said, we didn't have to go to the taxpayers for extra money to pay for bonds for Lucas Oil or for Bainbridge, even in the depths of COVID.

And I had to go back and listen to this this morning because I thought he said this and he did.

He said, and we won't have to do that, I am sure, in this instance.