* NBC 5…

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has continued pushing for the Bears to build a new stadium in the city, but the team may have strengthened his resolve.

In an interview with NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern, Illinois State Sen. Bill Cunningham, a cosponsor of the “PILOT” bill aimed at keeping the Bears in Illinois, said the team reached out to the city in recent weeks concerning what he believed was a hypothetical reunion on a stadium project if their Arlington Heights site doesn’t work out.

Cunningham said the outreach from the Bears has strengthened the opposition of Chicago lawmakers to the bill that would relocate the team to Arlington Heights.

“One of the problems that we’ve run into is that some of the outreach the Bears have done to the city of Chicago as late as four weeks ago has breathed new life into the mayor’s opposition to the bill,” he said. “We learned that there was contact between the Bears and the city sometime in late April when they talked hypothetically about looking back at the lakefront if the Arlington Heights site did not work out. And that has given the mayor the opportunity to point to that as a hope that a lakefront stadium is still possible. And that increased opposition among Chicago members.”

On Wednesday night, a source close to the negotiations told NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern that the talks between the Bears and city were focused on the parameters of the team’s lease at Soldier Field, not a reengagement on stadium conversation.

In other words, the city’s general counsel disclosed a confidential “hypothetical” conversation with the Bears’ GC. Not a smart move by the team to even hold that meeting, and now I doubt they’ll ever do that again.

The GC reached out to the mayors office to solve a problem with the current lease, and the Johnson administration used that to their advantage. It was the Johnson administration, I’m told, which broached the subject of what would happen if the megaprojects bill didn’t pass. So, I seriously doubt there will be any more such meetings.

* Tribune…

“The team has been clear with the city of Chicago and state leaders there are only two viable stadium locations under consideration, Arlington Heights and Hammond, and a decision is expected between the two later this spring or early summer,” the team said in the statement. […]

Still, Cunningham said talk of resurrecting a Chicago stadium has created a roadblock in ongoing discussions among lawmakers trying to meet a May 31 deadline to hammer out a deal before the end of the spring legislative session that could compel the Bears to move to Arlington Heights. Cunningham said the Chicago stadium idea has become a catalyst for lawmakers — many from Chicago — who have expressed “substantial opposition” to the current negotiations over helping the team move to a suburb.

This sticking point in negotiations comes a few weeks after Johnson and others in the city administration visited Springfield and discussed with lawmakers the mayor’s desire to keep the Bears in Chicago.

“But by virtue of the fact that the Bears did outreach to the city as (of) late April, that has given credence to the mayor’s claim that a lakefront site is still viable,” Cunningham said. “That has helped him to convince Chicago legislators to move slowly, to give the city a chance to better develop a new lakefront plan and to not support the Arlington Heights site.”

* Cunningham’s text to me…

Was told by a representative of the Bears that while the attorneys were having a discussion about the existing lease, they had a “hypothetical” conversation about reconsidering a lakefront site if Arlington Heights doesn’t work out. Not surprisingly, the mayor and his people have seized on that discussion and have used it to their advantage — telling Chicago members that the city is still a viable alternative and that Hammond is a bluff. I don’t personally believe the Bears are serious about the city. I think they are primarily focused on Arlington Heights first and Hammond second. But either they were intentionally laying ground work for a backup plan with the city or their GC went places she probably shouldn’t have in a conversation with the city. Either way, it’s provided the mayor with a talking point as he lobbies Chicago legislators.

I think the GC went places she shouldn’t have because, I’m also told, the Bears informed the governor and the two Democratic legislative leaders that this whole thing is concocted.

* Either way, the spin is working. And some progressive legislators have taken a stand against any more corporate aid…

Sen. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, is proposing a plan that would eliminate several economic development tax credit programs, such as programs that incentivize construction jobs, to free up $700 million in revenue annually, according to proponents. Many of the targeted programs, however, have support from the governor and members of both parties.

“Isn’t it time that we take a stand showing exactly what our values are here in Illinois, instead of allowing the state’s wealthiest corporations to double dip, racking in both federal and state tax breaks?” Collins said

Another cluster.