State Rep. Kam Buckner broke down what has changed in Bears' stadium talks
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Rahimi Harrison-Rhodie on 104.3 The Score. And for the second day in a row, we have more follow-up when it comes to discussion surrounding the Bears stadium. If you missed us yesterday, and I know there were a lot of people who called, we will take your calls again in this hour.
What updates are there on the Bears stadium discussions?
312-644-6767 is our number. do have a vote you do have a say with us even if you don't get to vote on it yourselves in an actual ballot we at least will listen to you so just know that and in the meantime we got some answers on our afternoon show yesterday spiegel and holmes who had cam buckner on who is part of the state legislature he's one of our representatives and cam is important in this because he provides answers and that's that's what you want from your public servants and cam is sports savvy as we know and And he understands the discussion, I think, a little bit better from people like us who, you know, know about the Bears, but don't necessarily know what the other money would go to in a budget.
So Cam, I think, provided some valuable answers. You know, before we get to what he said, what were you two's opinions of just Cam kind of clarifying Marshall Harris and Mark Grody? I loved Cam's appearance because it kind of took us behind the curtain as much as he could because obviously it's an act of negotiation. There's only so much that he can say. But when you bring up the reference to having been through something similar, when you talk about the Cubs – deciding they were going to remake their ballpark and do all the things that they were doing. And in comparison to this, not an apples-to-apples comparison, but just laying it out, hey, this is where we are with the NFL and their process compared to what happened with the Cubs.
I thought that... illustrated more clearly what this whole process is going to look like and the fact that hey we're making progress in this process that's probably the most important thing yeah i mean that was the first thing that i jotted down in this that again the the evidence is mounting from all the different sides of this that the meetings are positive specifically using words like the most regularity and clarity there has ever been in the meetings with the Bears. So I think it's important to point that out. I thought it was interesting to hear the optimism. Yet, yet, Cam Buckner sharing with everybody, and we'll hear some of it coming up, on what the concerns are still that are left, which include, obviously, what the state is stuck with and the windfall and the backfill of the coffers.
That's really important to the state of Illinois. And the other part, too, was that I thought was interesting is, hey, if they move to the suburbs, if they move to Arlington Heights, what's left for Chicago in all of this?
How does Cam Buckner contribute to the stadium negotiations?
Where are the benefits then? What are they stuck with or left with or not have the benefit of? Yeah, I like to say it was something that we were taught in journalism school. I was made to minor in political science as part of a journalism major at North Texas, and I don't normally tout that, but you do end up learning a lot. Like when I had to take two semesters of urban politics and what that meant in sports arenas and their effects on local governments was one of the parts of the study and a term paper for me. So one of the questions that I always ask in these things, and it's valuable to you, is who pays, who loses, who benefits? And so that's what we're trying to figure out. You know who benefits because we're a sports station.
You're listening to us. The Bears benefit. So that is clear. Everything else is where it gets a little more not blurry, but just you can't always see. So Cam Buckner talked to Spiegel and Holmes and discussed what that phrase even means. Property tax certainty and how it plays out. when you look at a mega project this size, what the bears are asking for is to be able to know upfront what they're gonna pay every year in property tax. What I've said from the beginning is that while that is not immediate money or a check from the government,
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:17
2
What updates are there on the Bears stadium discussions?
0:17–2:47
3
How does Cam Buckner contribute to the stadium negotiations?
2:47–5:02
4
What are the financial implications of the Bears moving to Arlington Heights?
5:02–10:32
5
What concerns remain for Illinois regarding the Bears' stadium plans?
10:32–14:53
6
How does property tax certainty affect the Bears' negotiations?
14:53–15:42
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