By Jim Talamonti
The Center Square

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says progress has been made in conversations with the Chicago Bears.

Pritzker announced the expansion of sales tax and revenue bonds for capital projects at a press conference in Belleville on Monday.

The governor said STAR bonds were not written for the Bears.

“This can be used by local governments. We’re not specifically looking at it that way, perhaps the Bears are,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker said he would let the Bears talk about what they want to get done.

“There’s a lot of discussion, a lot of ongoing conversation with the Bears and indeed, frankly, progress that’s been made, so I’m pleased about that,” Pritzker said.

The governor added that he did not think the Bears were bluffing when they said they had expanded their stadium site search to include Northwest Indiana.

When asked if he was looking to attract the St. Louis Cardinals to Illinois, Pritzker said the state is trying to attract businesses, including teams.

The governor also said he was not looking at “throwing money at a stadium” for anybody.

The expansion of the STAR bonds program follows Pritzker’s signing of Senate Bill 1911 in December. The measure initially contained language to amend the property tax code but was changed several times to decouple Illinois from federal tax code changes, including bonus depreciation for newly-constructed non-residential property.

The amended bill also included language Pritzker said would provide local governments with financing options for capital projects.

The governor said STAR bonds can generate transformational levels of economic growth.

“When all of the current projects are complete, they are projected to generate $1 billion in sales and more than 5,000 new jobs. That’s just at the beginning of this wave of opportunity with STAR bonds,” Pritzker said.

The legislation provides that the governor’s office has final approval of all STAR bond districts and projects.

The number of projects available for each area is based on the economic development region’s population.

Four projects are available for regions with a population of 1 million or more, three projects are available for regions with population between 600,000 and 999,999. Only one project is available to regions with population less than 600,000.

Interested municipalities and counties must notify the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity of an intent to establish a STAR bond district by June 1.