In the waning hours of legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly got close, but failed, to pass a bill that would create multiple government boards to promote redevelopment of downtown Springfield. Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter said he expects elected officials to keep working on the proposal.
The Senate approved an amended House Bill 4496 around 10:30 p.m. May 31 but the House never called the bill for a floor vote to concur with the gut-and-replace amendments that Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, filed earlier that day. Turner argued the bill, which rolled together three separate bills she had previously introduced, would foster more tourism for Springfield’s downtown through the Capital City Downtown Medical District Commission and the Capital Area Tourism Authority.
“This is good public policy that will benefit the capital city for generations to come. Expanding the Bank of Springfield Center and bringing a headquarter hotel to downtown will create jobs, boost the local economy and breathe new life into this once-buzzing central hub,” Turner said before the Senate approved the bill, 38 to 19. “This is a great project; it’s going to mean a lot for the city.”
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Speaking to the press on June 1 after adjournment, Speaker of the House Emmanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, urged patience as he said the House didn’t have the votes for a bill to help support a new stadium for the Chicago Bears or reinvestment for Springfield proper.
“I hate to sound like a broken record, but some of these issues take time – the votes weren’t there to pass a bill for the Bears… A vote just about Springfield wasn’t there,” Welch said. “I didn’t ask the members their specific issues. I asked where they were, yes or no, in the final hours of the of the session.”
He added that more conversations about what legislators’ holdups are will happen and that they want to see the Springfield economy succeed.
Turner had previously called her separate Senate bills the “downtown reinvestment package.” The core language of all three was added into a House Bill that passed in April which would have provided a framework for the Chicago Bears to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights before support for the bill collapsed in the Senate.
The controversial Capital Area Tourism Authority faced pushback from some members of the Springfield City Council, who felt the Authority would dilute the council’s power since it would be an unelected, County-led board. Meanwhile, Republicans in the state legislature argued in line with the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, which said the bill would actually hurt Springfield’s tourism; hoteliers long opposed the use of a hotel tax mechanism.
Turner, responding to questions from Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said an expanded BOS Center would have multiple event spaces, making it more attractive to convention planners.
“The problem is with booking and not being able to have more than one event happening at the same time, which really creates some problems when you are looking at bringing in large conventions,” Turner said.
Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Vandalia, argued the funding of a new hotel through hotel taxes would steer conventions to other parts of the state, including his own.
“Frankly, I should maybe be in favor of this because it’s going to drive conventions to the Metro East – I do care about Springfield, though, because while I don’t represent this area, it’s all of our capital,” he said. “I just don’t understand why my constituents should have to pay such an exorbitant hotel tax because they want to come visit the Abraham Lincoln Museum. This is going to cost Springfield business… we’re going to dump more rooms on a market that doesn’t need more rooms.”
Sen. Jill Tracy, R-Quincy, who represents Jacksonville, also said the idea of raising hotel taxes would drive conventions to consider other markets.
“The idea of having hotels tax their customers within a county and make their customers pay a higher tax to finance a competitor’s hotel just doesn’t sound right,” Tracy said.
The Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association issued a statement opposing the legislation a few days prior to the bill’s passage.
“This proposal raises serious concerns about transparency and fairness, while making ambitious assumptions about economic activity and performance that may leave taxpayers on the hook for borrowing for decades to come,” said Keenan Irish, vice president of government relations for the IHLA, in a May 27 press release. “We urge lawmakers to push pause on this legislation and work with Springfield’s hotel industry to craft a more balanced plan that will grow tourism, attract investment and revitalize downtown without picking winners and losers.”
Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, R-Springfield, was the only other House sponsor on the bill, though there was little time for members to consider all the bills that were progressing through the General Assembly late Sunday night.
Van Meter said every setback with the project in recent years has brought about better ideas.
“We’ve been working on this project for four years and every disappointment has led to a better solution,” Van Meter wrote to Illinois Times. “I’ve talked to Sen. Turner, Rep. Coffey and the mayor today, and everyone agreed we would roll up our sleeves and get back to work.”
Other parts of the bill
The existing Mid-Illinois Medical District would double in size to become the Capital City Downtown Medical District, which would extend its southern boundary from Madison Street down to South Grand Avenue. The other boundaries would remain the same, North Grand Avenue to the north, Walnut Street to the west and 11th Street to the east.
The original language envisioned a nine-person Medical District Commission consisting of four gubernatorial appointees, four mayoral appointees and one appointee from the Sangamon County Board Chair.
The latest version of the bill, which was one step short of reaching Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk, grew the commission to 11 members: five gubernatorial appointees, three mayoral appointees and three appointees from the Sangamon County Board Chair.
Additionally, the bill would create a series of tax credits for construction-related jobs within the new Medical District to incentivize redevelopment.
As it stands, the Mid-Illinois Medical District will be receiving a $250,000 grant, reappropriated from the Build Illinois Bond Fund, “for costs associated with staff housing,” according to the state budget.
Right now, there are no plans for a special session this summer, meaning the next time lawmakers are expected to return to Springfield will be the fall veto session.