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If capping property taxes means government has to cancel projects, cut spending, and tighten its belt, good.

That's the whole point.

Illinois families have made sacrifices for years. It's government's turn. ... See MoreSee Less

I love the Bears. Like millions of Illinoisans, I want them to stay in Illinois.

But the collapse of the mega projects bill is ultimately good news for homeowners.

Illinois families already pay some of the highest property taxes in America. Homeowners don’t get special tax deals. Small businesses don’t get special tax deals. They pay what they owe. I don’t think billion-dollar sports franchises and developers should play by a different set of rules.

The hard truth is that Illinois has backed itself into a corner. Decades of bad decisions and kicking the can down the road has left us in a position where it’s difficult to compete with states like Indiana without asking taxpayers to shoulder more of the burden. Indiana has far more flexibility to throw incentives around. Illinois doesn’t.

What bothered me most about this process was the rush. Governor Pritzker and legislative leaders were willing to move heaven and earth to push through a complicated, decades-long tax deal for billion-dollar interests in the final hours of session.

That was reckless. It was irresponsible. And above all, it was selfish.

Where is that same urgency for the homeowner getting crushed by property taxes? Where is that same urgency for families watching their tax bills climb year after year? Where is that same urgency for seniors wondering if they can afford to stay in the homes they spent a lifetime paying for?

Springfield always seems to find time for the wealthy and well-connected. It never seems to find time for the people paying the bills.

And that's what I hate about this debate. I love the Bears. I want them here. But I can't look a homeowner struggling to pay their property tax bill in the eye and tell them they should subsidize a stadium for a franchise worth billions of dollars.

If I were governor, my message to the Bears ownership would be simple: you own the land, you own the team, and you should build the stadium yourselves.

There is no easy answer here. If the Bears leave, it will be painful and disappointing. But asking middle-class families to pick up the tab is not the solution.

Illinois homeowners have sacrificed enough already. ... See MoreSee Less