MIG Journal, Sunday Morning Edition

Taxpayer Dollars and Touchdowns: Why Illinois is Benching Bad Teams

By: Avery Causley-Ingram

The Illinois General Assembly has passed the Balanced Earnings And Record Standards (BEARS) Act by a vote of 31-2, with one abstention. The bill, designed to restrict public funding for underperforming professional sports teams, sparked a debate filled with frustration, humor, and unexpected bipartisanship.

The BEARS Act ties public funding for stadium projects to a team’s performance, requiring teams to maintain a .500 record in three of the last five seasons to qualify. New teams, less than five years old, must meet a lower benchmark. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is responsible for verifying compliance, and teams that misrepresent records face fines and funding bans.

A lobbyist speaking on behalf of the ACLU strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it unfairly penalizes struggling teams and could be used to target marginalized groups. “This is counterproductive. How are teams supposed to have the ability to improve without the proper funding to do so?” They also expressed concerns that “the charges for misrepresentation can be astronomically used to target marginalized teams.”

Frustration with the Chicago Bears record fueled much of the debate. Representative Schilling stated, “When I go to McDonald’s and pay money, I get a Big Mac. When I give money to the Bears, I get a loss.” Supporters argued that taxpayer dollars should not be wasted on chronically unsuccessful teams. “If a teacher can lose their job for underperformance, a football team should lose funding too,” Representative Buckman said. Another suggested, “We should take funding out of a failing sports team and put it into something more successful—like the music industry.”

The lieutenant governor weighed in as a non-voting member, remarking, “If we don’t give public funding to all the really bad sports teams in Illinois, we won’t have any sports teams left.” When pressed about redirecting funds to women’s sports, they responded, “Equality is equality, and everyone has an equal chance to suck.”

Some representatives argued that the bill was a step in the right direction to spark competition and improvement.

“As Ricky Bobby, the great NASCAR legend, said, ‘If you’re not first, you’re last,’ and the Bears have been last for a very long time...Passing this bill would incentivize owners to build winning teams, like the Los Angeles Rams. This will also drive tourism to the city of Chicago with winning teams, just like it did in the ‘90s when the great Michael Jordan had the city of Chicago in a chokehold. I'd like to get back to those days.”

Adding to the criticism, Representative Thompson bluntly addressed the Bears’ performance: “The Bears suck. They suck. But I think my Democratic colleagues have forgotten one thing. The Bears cannot play under pressure.  Despite opposition, the bill passed with strong support. As one representative put it, “Let's pass this bill to help make women's volleyball great again.”

House Session 2

By: Phoenix Sanchez

House Bill Original Legislation 0003 → Passed Y:46 N:4 Abstain:3

This bill ensures that loved ones of a deceased can visit the burial site even on private property. Proposed by Representative Drew Rentmeister, this bill will allow the property owner to set visitation rules and time as well as will protect either party should the other cause damage to the property or burial site. Should the visitors find the rules and or hours unreasonable, they are allowed to negotiate with the property owner. If parties can’t reach a consensus, the complaint can be taken to local court. 

Representative Drew Rentmeister was inspired to create this bill because of this exact situation happening to his family. Representative Rentmeister’s great grandfather’s burial site is located on private property and is no longer visitable.

By passing this House Bill OL 0003, Representative Rentmeister hopes to prevent experiences like this in the future.

House Bill Original Legislation 0002 → Passed Y:44 N:4 A:5

This bill is the proposal to ban single use plastics. This bill was amended to ban single use plastic bags with the bill to be revisited every 2 years with the ability to remove or add any other single use plastic items, and proposes punishment on those found to be in violation of the bill. By amending the bill to start with one item before adding more, the majority of the House wanted to provide leniency and time for smaller businesses to comply. Any businesses found in violation of the law will be punished with a violation of $500 for first offence and an additional fine of $2,000 per violation after. 

Proposed by Representative Satchel Coady, he hopes that the ban on single use plastics will decrease plastic pollution. Representative Coady was inspired by his own personal experiences with plastic pollution on the land he lives on and seeing the pollution causing health issues and death to the wildlife that lives on the property. 

Saturday Morning In The House

By: Leslie Lozada

The House of Representatives rejoined at the House Chambers on Saturday, March 1st, to focus on several bills relating to Alcohol, Tobacco, firearms, and gaming. Within this morning's meeting, there were several amendments proposed. 

House Bill 4681

This bill would amend the Reimagine Public Safety Act, in order to create a firearms buyback program for those Illinois residents. 

The Minority leader for the Republican Party argued against the bill, stating that the Illinois residents truly deserve more, and that there should be more investment in law enforcement in order to facilitate safety. 

“Do you think it just should be turned in?” Assistant minority leader for the Republicans Party, Lucas Schilling, questioned the intent of the bill. “Prioritizing citizens over guns.”

The initial cost for residents was for $100, per weapon. A later amendment was added to account for 60% manufacturing costs. 

The vote passed with 30 votes in favor for, 21 against, and one abstain. 

House Bill 5854

This bill would allow liability for gun owners to properly store guns within the household and secure guns in the household. 

The majority leader for the Democratic party believed, in her argument for the bill, that it is “perfect”.

The minority leader for the Republican party argued that there are other ways to focus on gun control, that this bill “does nothing” in order to assist with this. 

The vote passed with 31 votes in favor for, 20 against, and one abstention. 

House Meets Again

By: Anastasia Jackson

HB0004 was the first to be introduced to the floor of the session. The debate starts with the Democratic Party arguing for helping children and their family with the childcare system. The opposition says this is an unsustainable way to help families. Quote, “If you can’t afford a child, don’t have a child” from the opposing minority side. The bill was passed with majority support.

HB0039 is summarized as giving incarcerated people the right to vote after they are released. The debate starts with the majority arguing that voting is a constitutional right and a benefit for society. They go on to say taking the right to vote is the reason we had the revolution. The opposition argues that the American revolution was a good thing, and inmates should not be able to have the same rights as a law-abiding citizen, especially if they committed a heinous crime. Argues again that they should not be able to vote while incarcerated for breaking the law. Majority states that taking away the rights is a violation and affects minorities and marginalized groups of people. Bill was passed with 29 for and 21 against.

HB0003 is a bill that gives more funding to women's reproductive rights. The debate starts with the majority stating that funding women's reproductive rights is essential to help decrease medical debt and helping. “Funding low income individuals..the untreated are affected the most”. The opposition argues that this bill is harmful to children and mothers in tandem. The facilities are “Killing our next generation” quoted by a minority speaker.

The minority speaker also brings up racism within these facilities. As well as the babies born within mothers of substance abuse. The majority argues that women have a right to choose what to do with their respective reproductive health. The bill was passed with 31 for and 17 against.

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The weekend has flown by and is quickly coming to a close. It was an honor to serve as your Editor in Chief. I am continuously amazed by all the hard work and dedication everyone contributes. See you next year!

All my love,

M. Sterning

Editor in Chief