Buckner Wants Transparency. The Pappas Report Is the Test.
Rep. Buckner says the Bears' stadium deal deserves public scrutiny. Then the Pappas report drops a $1.5 billion number he doesn't like, and suddenly it's 'nothing from nothing.' You can't have it both ways.
By Dear Kevin Warren · 2026-05-27
State Representative Kam Buckner posted something that sounded good on Tuesday.
> "I think major development deals SHOULD be analyzed publicly. That's healthy. This isn't 1989 or 2001 where the real conversations happened behind closed doors and the public was left out. We should welcome scrutiny, debate, and transparency."
He was responding to the Cook County Treasurer's analysis of the megaprojects bill. You know the one. The report that showed the Bears would get north of $1.5 billion in property tax breaks over 40 years while the average Cook County homeowner would see maybe five bucks a year in relief.
$1.5 billion. To a franchise valued at nearly $9 billion. And we get five dollars.
Buckner is absolutely right about 1989 and 2001. Both were backroom specials. In 1989, the White Sox got $150 million in a special session nobody saw coming. In 2001, the Soldier Field renovation got $632 million through a hotel-motel tax that never went to a referendum.
The public found out after the check had cleared.
Buckner says those days are over.
So here's the test
The Pappas report did exactly what Buckner asked for. It laid out the numbers in plain view. The megaprojects bill would freeze the Bears' tax bill at under $4 million a year on a site that should be generating more than $53 million. The gap — that $1.5 billion I mentioned — gets dumped on every other property taxpayer in Cook County.
That's a transparent number. That's analysis. That's exactly what Buckner said he wanted.
Then the bill sponsor got asked about it. And the tune changed.
> "The real choice is not 'full taxes versus reduced taxes.' The real choice is a negotiated payment on a real project, or full taxes on an empty lot. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing."
"Nothing from nothing."
Let's talk about that.
The Bears bought a 326-acre racetrack for $197.2 million. That's a private real estate investment made by a franchise worth more than most NFL teams combined. The Bears chose Arlington Heights. They priced the risk. They closed the deal.
And now the argument is: if you don't subsidize us, that land we bought — that we chose to buy — might sit empty. And that's somehow your problem.
That's not an argument. That's a hostage situation.
He can't have it both ways
Buckner can't welcome public analysis and then dismiss the findings because the Bears don't like the alternative. The transparency he asked for delivered a number. That number didn't fit the story. So the story changed.
The gap between those two statements is the whole article.
If Buckner really wants transparency, let's include everything on the table:
- $855 million in public infrastructure. The Bears want roads, sewers, and utilities at Arlington Park. Not through the megaprojects bill — through separate state appropriations. - Sales tax exemption on construction materials. Stadium materials are big-ticket. That revenue simply disappears. - No inflation adjustment on the tax cap. In year 40, that $4 million payment will be worth less than half what it is today. Tell me the last time your property tax bill got frozen for four decades.
And notably absent from every proposal: a traffic study. An environmental review. Any analysis of what a 70,000-seat stadium does to a site that currently handles neither.
What transparency actually requires
Transparency doesn't count when it's convenient. It counts when it shows you something you'd rather not see.
Buckner said he wants the second question asked. Not the softball — the one that makes the room uncomfortable.
The Pappas report asked that question. The answer was $1.5 billion shifted to Cook County homeowners. Now we get to see whether Buckner meant what he said, or whether he meant what he said as long as the numbers went the other way.
We'll find out soon enough. The bill is still moving. The Bears are still pushing. And Cook County taxpayers are still the ones holding the bag if nobody asks the hard questions.
Buckner just told the room he wants those questions asked.
Let's see if that holds when the answer isn't what he hoped for.
Sources: Cook County Treasurer's Office — Maria Pappas report (May 2026), Rep. Kam Buckner social media statements, Illinois Senate Bill 3133 analysis, Capitol News Illinois