Bear down, Iowa: A group of Republican state senators is making a legislative play for Iowa to become the Chicago Bears’ new home.
Senate File 2252, unveiled Tuesday, Feb. 10, would expand one of Iowa’s biggest economic development programs to provide financial incentives for a National Football League team to build a stadium in Iowa.
It comes as the Chicago Bears negotiate a stadium project to move from the historic 100-year-old Soldier Field in downtown Chicago while eyeing locations outside the state.
Iowa’s MEGA program provides economic development incentives designed to attract capital investments from businesses that invest at least $1 billion in the state and mainly work in advanced manufacturing, biosciences or research and development.
The bill proposes expanding the program to incentivize construction of an NFL stadium in Iowa with the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s approval.
Republican Sens. Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs, Kerry Gruenhagen of Walcott, Dawn Driscoll of Williamsburg, Scott Webster of Bettendorf, Mike Bousselot of Ankeny, Cherielynn Westrich of Ottumwa and Carrie Koelker of Dyersville are sponsoring the legislation.
Gruenhagen said the Bears are looking for a state that will “welcome them with open arms” and this bill was a way to show Iowa is open for business “if their home state doesn’t want them.”
“While Illinois and Indiana squabble over this issue, we are ready to get off the sidelines and into the game,” Gruenhagen said in a statement. “Bringing an NFL team to Iowa would attract jobs, tourism and fans to our state and give us the opportunity to showcase what Iowa really has to offer. Iowans have dedicated themselves to our college sports teams, and we’re ready to attract a professional team to our great state.”
Webster said Iowa has made strides in becoming more competitive nationally.
“After years of Bears fans seeking refuge across the Mississippi River from the incompetence, corruption and punitive tax and regulatory climate in the state of Illinois, it is time for the team to join their fans on the west side of the river,” Webster said in a statement.
“Iowa can offer the Bears everything they need to build a world-class facility, tax certainty and the public infrastructure they need in a state led by common-sense conservatives.”
The bill was filed with the Local Government Committee, which Webster chairs, and lawmakers are slated to consider it in a subcommittee at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12. The bill also would likely need to eventually go through the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.
Indiana was the first state to try to lure the Chicago Bears across state lines for a new stadium. Republican Gov. Mike Braun has pushed a bill there to establish a state authority to “acquire, construct, equip, own, lease and finance” a sports stadium in the state’s efforts to attract the Bears.
The Bears bill is the second bill in Iowa’s 2026 legislative session targeting Illinois as a secessionist movement has grown fueled by divisions over the Prairie State’s Democratic policy direction.
Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, proposed House File 2141, which would establish an “Iowa-Illinois boundary adjustment committee” to consider whether to move the dividing line between the two states by transferring one or more Illinois counties along the Iowa border to the Hawkeye State.
It is not receiving a subcommittee hearing.
Where do the Chicago Bears’ negotiations stand with Illinois?
Illinois hasn’t fumbled away Da Bears just yet.
The state’s Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said Feb. 9 that he and his staff have made “progress” to incentivize the football team to stay in Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The Bears have played at Soldier Field since 1971 and have called Chicago home since moving from Decatur in 1921, when they were called the Staleys.
The Bears bought a former horseracing track in Arlington Heights for $197 million in 2023. The team has not moved forward with building a stadium there while considering proposals for a new domed stadium on the Chicago lakefront or potentially in Northwest Indiana as negotiations remain in flux with Illinois officials.
While the Bears have committed to paying for construction of the proposed Arlington Heights stadium, the team is seeking state funding for infrastructure improvements such as roads and utilities needed to support the project.
They are also seeking passage of a “mega projects” bill that would allow the Bears and other large-scale development projects to negotiate lower property tax bills with local officials.
Pritzker told reporters he and the state’s legislative leaders are on board with a public funding package for infrastructure around the Arlington Heights site, as well as legislation that would allow the team to negotiate property tax levels with the village, the Tribune reported. The governor maintained that he does not want taxpayer money paying for the stadium itself.
News reports have also said Illinois officials want the Bears to implement more affordability measures to ensure families can maintain access to the games.
“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. “But I’m going to let the Bears talk about what it is that they want to get done and how they want to get it done. And I’m obviously involved in negotiations and so are my entire team, as well as the members of the Legislature.”
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bring Da Bears to Iowa? Bill makes pitch for Chicago Bears stadium
Reporting by Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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