Illinois lawmakers face key deadline in battle for the Bears as legislative session ends Sunday

CHICAGO (WLS) -- State lawmakers are heading down to the wire to pass a budget and many other pieces of legislation, including a bill that could keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois.

The legislative session wraps up on Sunday night. On Saturday, there are signs of progress.

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The Illinois Senate was back in session on Saturday afternoon. Their counterparts in the House gaveled in as well for the final push for passage of a series of bills, first and foremost the budget.

The House filed a budget and revenue bill shortly after adjourning at 9 p.m. Saturday. Those bills are now in the hands of the Senate, which is expected to take a vote on a budget package on Saturday night, but what exactly will be in there as far as new taxes remains to be seen.

Both Democrats and Republicans say a lot of progress has been made.

"We have the broad contours of an agreement. We're still negotiating some final pieces, but our staff is holed away drafting the language to put together and release to the public, so that we can all get this budget reviewed and passed," said budgeteer and Illinois state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago.

On Saturday afternoon, groups, including the Chicago Teachers Union, rallied in the rotunda, pushing for progressive revenue.

Democratic lawmakers say a digital tax on social media companies is gaining broad support as Illinois seeks to make up for lost federal funding.

"I really firmly believe that we have to ask the wealthiest people and the most profitable corporations to pay their fair share to the state to help fund that, and I think our budget will reflect those values," Guzzardi said.

"The answer to every budget challenge cannot be another tax, another fee, another fund sweep, or another way to take more money out of taxpayers' pockets," said Republican Senate Deputy Leader Sue Rezin, 38th District.

The House is done for Saturday night, but the Senate still working with a lot still on the legislative plate. Lawmakers planning for a long night brought in cartloads of food earlier Saturday evening, bearing down for last-minute negotiations, which are always on the menu as the session draws to a close.

All eyes are on the Senate, where the "mega-projects" bill now is the source of much discussion and debate. It appears that there is a lot more work to do without much time left.

Members of the Chicago delegation are reluctant to back a bill that would allow the team to move to Arlington Heights, where ownership wants to build a new stadium with tax breaks to guarantee the team long-term certainty over how much it will pay in property taxes.

"So, they're doing that right now with our proposal. They're having other conversations about what another proposal may look like. So, I don't know exactly what we're going to get back from them, but they're able to come to a consensus on something. We'll be ready to take up that measure here on this side," said lead Bears negotiator and Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago.

With many sides concerned about property tax relief for homeowners, some lawmakers believe the "mega-projects" bill might have to be stripped down just to help the Bears in order to pass this session.

"I think that's the only option, at this point. This is too late in the session to do a statewide 'mega-projects' bill where you don't know what might be going in there," said Senate Republican Leader John Curran.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has held several meetings with Democratic leaders, discussing priorities for the waning hours of this session on Saturday. He has repeatedly said he wants to keep the Bears in Illinois, and the team has made it clear the only location under consideration is Arlington Heights.

But some Republicans wonder if the governor should be more involved in making a deal happen for the Bears.

"I'm not so sure the governor's team is putting their full weight and power of the governor's office behind. Having been here six years, when the governor office wants something, there's a whole different tone. There's a whole different approach," said Illinois state Sen. Seth Lewis, R-DuPage and Cook counties.

The Senate was caucusing on Saturday night, and the executive committee is still scheduled to meet later in the evening.

On Sunday, both chambers will be back in the morning with a race against the clock to get the budget and other items done.

"Obviously, there has to be some back-and-forth between the chambers, but what we do know is by the time the clock strikes 11:59 tomorrow night, that we'll be done," Buckner said.