The politically influential leader of the Chicago Teachers Union and the Illinois Federation of Teachers has taken a lead role in recent weeks attempting to stall or block the Bears PILOT legislation – a bill the team has said it needs to pass before it can begin building a new stadium and megadevelopment in Arlington Heights.
Stacy Davis Gates and the IFT got involved in the battle when they wrote a letter last month to Illinois Legislative Leaders imploring them to squash the bill, arguing that it would lead to property tax increases for homeowners.
Davis Gates’ argument is that the bill is not narrowly tailored to the Bears and could lead to other similar deals across the state, and she said the structure of the deal means it would lock the development into far lower in lieu of payments to local school districts for decades, which means those districts would have to turn to higher property taxes to make up what she believes will be lost revenue.
“If we don’t get those property tax dollars it just means that property tax owners, their taxes will go up because schools will still need funding. The fundamental part of school funding in Illinois is that you get property taxes and if you’re not getting those property taxes it is very likely that the school budgets, we’ll have layoffs,” Davis Gates told NBC 5 in an exclusive interview.
When asked whether she’d be comfortable wearing the hat if the legislation failed and the Bears chose Hammond, Indiana instead, Davis Gates said the bill should have nothing to do with whether or not the Bears choose to go to Arlington Heights.
“I have no idea how school funding and the Chicago Bears Stadium are intertwined. Our position is property tax dollars currently go to fund our schools. That’s what we want to happen,” Davis Gates said.
The heavy opposition comes at a time that Davis Gates is seeking upwards of $8 million more in member dues to help fund political campaigns in elected school board races. She says the dues hike is needed because other wealthy interests, specifically, local Democratic mega-donor Michael Sacks, have already started to spend big dollars backing more centrist candidates.
“These are people who already have millions of dollars in the bank and we haven’t even endorsed anyone. There are millions of dollars already being traded around in the school board race as we speak. Those people will have an impact over if our schools are sustainable, how we appear in Springfield, and when the resources that are necessary. Those people will become the leaders of our school. We’ll negotiate our next contract with those leaders. We want to win the debate,” Davis Gates said.
Today, Sacks and Davis Gates exchanged scathing personal letters, which they both shared publicly. Davis Gates asked Sacks to back out of his involvement in groups that are funding candidates for school board. Sacks clapped back that Davis Gates’ suggestion was the height of hypocrisy, as CTU has been among the largest spenders in local political races ever since they helped elect Brandon Johnson mayor of Chicago.
Hence then, the article about stacy davis gates speaks out on opposition to bears stadium bill was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Stacy Davis Gates speaks out on opposition to Bears stadium bill )
Also on site :
- FIFA’s empire of double standards: Why the 2026 World Cup is already a disaster
- Hershey Quietly Debuts a Brand-New Candy Bar Based on a Classic Italian Dessert
- Trump vs Massie in Kentucky: Is Israel breaking MAGA?