HB2772eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB2772 Engrossed LRB104 11883 RTM 21974 b

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority Act is amended by changing Sections 2, 3, and 13 and by adding Section 9.5 as follows:

(70 ILCS 3205/2) (from Ch. 85, par. 6002)

Sec. 2. Definitions; general provisions. In this Act the following words have the meanings indicated:

(A) "Authority" means the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.

(B) "Facility" means:

(1) Stadiums, arenas or other structures for the holding of athletic contests and other events and gatherings, including, without limitation, baseball, football, professional women's sports, and automobile racing; musical, dramatic and other artistic, cultural or social events; public meetings; and other public events; and

(2) Practice fields, or other areas where professional sports teams and other sports teams may practice or perform.

(3) "Facility" also means the following types of property if that property is related to or located near an item listed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (B) of this Section:

(i) Offices, parking lots and garages, access roads, streets, intersections, highway interchanges, pedestrian walkways, tunnels, and bridges, transportation facilities, monuments, restaurants, stores, and other facilities providing goods and services to persons attending meetings, contests, gatherings or events at the facility;

(ii) Other recreation areas and recreational facilities;

(iii) Other property or structures including all fixtures, furnishings, and appurtenances normally associated with such facilities; and

(iv) Landscaping, parks, and open spaces.

(C) "Governmental Owner" means a body politic, public corporation, political subdivision, unit of local government, or municipality formed under the laws of the State of Illinois, including, without limitation, the Chicago Park District, that owns or is to own a facility located within the corporate limits of the Authority described in Section 11 of this Act and to which the Authority provides financial assistance. Where the title to all or any part of a facility is held by a public building commission because the public building commission has financed, under the authority of the Public Building Commission Act, the acquisition of real estate or the construction, acquisition, or enlargement of improvements to real estate, or both, for any body politic, public corporation, political subdivision, unit of local government, or municipality formed under the laws of the State of Illinois, the term "governmental owner" when used with respect to that facility means the body politic, public corporation, political subdivision, unit of local government, or municipality rather than the public building commission.

(D) "Management Agreement" means a legally binding contract between the Authority and a tenant of a facility owned by the Authority, which contains at least the following provisions:

(1) a provision requiring the tenant to conduct its complete regular home season schedule and any home playoff events in the facility;

(2) a provision requiring the tenant to provide routine maintenance of and to operate the facility with its personnel or contractors;

(3) a provision requiring the tenant to advertise and promote events it conducts at the facility;

(4) a provision requiring the tenant to operate or contract for concessions for the patrons of the facility, including a stadium club and restaurant where food and beverages will be served; and

(5) a provision permitting the Authority or its designee to hold other events in any such facility owned by the Authority at such times as shall not unreasonably interfere with the use of that facility by the tenant.

(E) "Assistance Agreement" means one or more legally binding contracts, with respect to a facility for which the Authority is to provide financial assistance as provided in this Act, to which the Authority and a governmental owner of a facility or its tenant, or both, and any other appropriate persons are parties, which may be in the form of an intergovernmental agreement.

(F) "Financial Assistance" means the use by the Authority, pursuant to an assistance agreement, of its powers under this Act, including, without limitation, the power to borrow money, to issue bonds and notes, to impose an occupation tax as provided in Section 19 of this Act and to receive and expend the proceeds of that tax, to assist a governmental owner or its tenant, or both, with one or more of the following: designing, developing, establishing, constructing, erecting, acquiring, repairing, reconstructing, renovating, remodeling, adding to, extending, improving, equipping, operating, and maintaining a facility owned or to be owned by the governmental owner.

(G) "Tenant" means any person with which a governmental owner or the Authority has entered into an agreement for the use by a professional sports team or other sports team of any facility. Such an agreement may be a management agreement or an assistance agreement or may be a lease of or a license, permit, or similar agreement with respect to the use of a facility by such team for such period as shall be agreed upon by the person and the governmental owner or the Authority, as the case may be.

(Source: P.A. 91-935, eff. 6-1-01.)

(70 ILCS 3205/3) (from Ch. 85, par. 6003)

Sec. 3. Legislative Finding and Declaration. It is hereby found that as a result of deteriorating infrastructure and sports facilities in the metropolitan area of Chicago, there is a shortage of facilities suitable for use by professional and other sports teams and musical, theatrical, cultural, and other social organizations.

It is further found that as a result of the costs to maintain, repair or replace such infrastructure and facilities, and as a result of current high financing costs, the private sector, without the assistance contemplated in this Act, is unable to construct feasibly adequate sports facilities.

It is further found that the creation of modern sports facilities and the other results contemplated by this Act would stimulate economic activity in the State of Illinois, including the creation and maintenance of jobs, the creation of new and lasting infrastructure and other improvements, and the attraction and retention of sports and entertainment events which generate economic activity.

It is further found that participation in sports promotes physical and mental health and provides opportunities for personal growth and character development and that these benefits are best advanced and enjoyed when available to all people on an equitable basis, including when provision is made for equitable development of sports facilities for men and women alike.

It is further found that professional sports facilities can be magnets for substantial interstate tourism resulting in increased retail sales, hotel and restaurant sales, and entertainment industry sales, all of which increase jobs and economic growth.

It is further found that only three major league professional baseball franchises play in stadium facilities the construction of which has not been government-assisted and of those three the most recently constructed facility was completed in 1914.

It is further found that government assistance was or is an essential component in the financing of the construction of most recently built or planned National Football League stadiums.

It is further found that the exercise by the Authority and governmental owners of the additional powers conferred by this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly (i) will materially assist the development and redevelopment of government owned sports facilities and thereby alleviate in part the deleterious conditions and confer the public benefits described in this Section and (ii) is in the public interest and is declared to be for public purposes.

(Source: P.A. 91-935, eff. 6-1-01.)

(70 ILCS 3205/9.5 new)

Sec. 9.5. Unlawful discrimination. A person may not be prohibited, on the basis of sex, from participation in, or any of the benefits of, programs or activities at facilities funded under this Act, including facilities established or supported by bonds issued under this Act.

(70 ILCS 3205/13) (from Ch. 85, par. 6013)

Sec. 13. Bonds and notes.

(A) (1) The Authority may at any time and from time to time issue bonds and notes for any corporate purpose, including the establishment of reserves and the payment of interest and costs of issuance. The Authority shall report to the Governor and the General Assembly on any male or female professional sports projects brought to the Authority by a professional sports team in the State. The Authority shall notify the Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, President of the Senate, and Minority Leader of the Senate of the proposal within 2 weeks of receiving a formal request or inquiry. Before the General Assembly authorizes the issuance of additional bonds under this Act to fund facilities for professional men's sports teams, each chamber of the General Assembly may hold a hearing to publicly review any proposal submitted to the Authority. If there are proposals submitted by both professional men's and women's sports teams and recognizing the historical lack of public funding for women's sports, then the General Assembly shall encourage any future bonding authority is granted in an equitable manner to assist in the remediation of past inequity in funding between men's and women's sports teams. In this Act the term "bonds" includes notes of any kind, interim certificates, refunding bonds, or any other evidence of obligation for borrowed money issued under this Section 13. Bonds may be issued in one or more series and may be payable and secured either on a parity with or separately from other bonds.

(2) The bonds of any issue shall be payable solely from all or any part of the property or revenues of the Authority, including, without limitation:

(i) Rents, rates, fees, charges, or other revenues payable to or any receipts of the Authority, including amounts which are deposited pursuant to the Act with a trustee for bondholders;

(ii) Payments by financial institutions, insurance companies, or others pursuant to letters or lines of credit, policies of insurance, or purchase agreements;

(iii) Investment earnings from funds or accounts maintained pursuant to a bond resolution or trust agreement; and

(iv) Proceeds of refunding bonds.

(3) Bonds may be authorized by a resolution of the Authority and may be secured by a trust agreement by and between the Authority and a corporate trustee or trustees, which may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the State. Bonds may:

(i) Mature at a time or times, whether as serial bonds or as term bonds or both, not exceeding 40 years from their respective dates of issue;

(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions provision of the Bond Authorization Act "An Act to authorize public corporations to issue bonds, other evidences of indebtedness and tax anticipation warrants subject to interest rate limitations set forth therein", approved May 26, 1970, as now or hereafter amended, or any other provision of law, bear interest at any fixed or variable rate or rates determined by the method provided in the resolution or trust agreement;

(iii) Be payable at a time or times, in the denominations and form, either coupon or registered or both, and carry the registration and privileges as to exchange, transfer, or conversion and for the replacement of mutilated, lost, or destroyed bonds as the resolution or trust agreement may provide;

(iv) Be payable in lawful money of the United States at a designated place;

(v) Be subject to the terms of purchase, payment, redemption, refunding, or refinancing that the resolution or trust agreement provides;

(vi) Be executed by the manual or facsimile signatures of the officers of the Authority designated by the Authority which signatures shall be valid at delivery even for one who has ceased to hold office; and

(vii) Be sold in the manner and upon the terms determined by the Authority.

(B) Any resolution or trust agreement may contain provisions which shall be a part of the contract with the holders of the bonds as to:

(1) Pledging, assigning, or directing the use, investment, or disposition of all or any part of the revenues of the Authority or proceeds or benefits of any contract, including, without limit, any management agreement or assistance agreement and conveying or otherwise securing any property or property rights;

(2) The setting aside of loan funding deposits, debt service reserves, capitalized interest accounts, replacement or operating reserves, cost of issuance accounts and sinking funds, and the regulation, investment, and disposition thereof;

(3) Limitations on the purposes to which or the investments in which the proceeds of sale of any issue of bonds or the Authority's revenues and receipts may be applied or made;

(4) Limitations on the issue of additional bonds, the terms upon which additional bonds may be issued and secured, the terms upon which additional bonds may rank on a parity with, or be subordinate or superior to, other bonds;

(5) The refunding, advance refunding, or refinancing of outstanding bonds;

(6) The procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders may be altered or amended and the amount of bonds and holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which consent shall be given;

(7) Defining the acts or omissions which shall constitute a default in the duties of the Authority to holders of bonds and providing the rights or remedies of such holders in the event of a default which may include provisions restricting individual right of action by bondholders;

(8) Providing for guarantees, pledges of property, letters of credit, or other security, or insurance for the benefit of bondholders; and

(9) Any other matter relating to the bonds which the Authority determines appropriate.

(C) No member of the Authority nor any person executing the bonds shall be liable personally on the bonds or subject to any personal liability by reason of the issuance of the bonds.

(D) The Authority may enter into agreements with agents, banks, insurers, or others for the purpose of enhancing the marketability of or security for its bonds.

(E)(1) A pledge by the Authority of revenues and receipts as security for an issue of bonds or for the performance of its obligations under any management agreement or assistance agreement shall be valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made.

(2) The revenues and receipts pledged shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery or further act, and the lien of any pledge shall be valid and binding against any person having any claim of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the Authority, irrespective of whether the person has notice.

(3) No resolution, trust agreement, management agreement, or assistance agreement or any financing statement, continuation statement, or other instrument adopted or entered into by the Authority need be filed or recorded in any public record other than the records of the Authority in order to perfect the lien against third persons, regardless of any contrary provision of law.

(F) The Authority may issue bonds to refund, advance refund, or refinance any of its bonds then outstanding, including the payment of any redemption premium and any interest accrued or to accrue to the earliest or any subsequent date of redemption, purchase, or maturity of the bonds. Refunding or advance refunding bonds may be issued for the public purposes of realizing savings in the effective costs of debt service, directly or through a debt restructuring, for alleviating impending or actual default, or for paying principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on bonds as they mature or are subject to redemption, and may be issued in one or more series in an amount in excess of that of the bonds to be refunded.

(G) At no time shall the total outstanding bonds and notes of the Authority issued under this Section 13 exceed (i) $150,000,000 in connection with facilities owned by the Authority or in connection with other authorized corporate purposes of the Authority and (ii) $399,000,000 in connection with facilities owned by a governmental owner other than the Authority; however, the limit on the total outstanding bond and notes set forth in this sentence shall not apply to any refunding or restructuring bonds issued by the Authority on and after June 17, 2021 (the effective date of Public Act 102-16) this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly but prior to December 31, 2024. Bonds which are being paid or retired by issuance, sale, or delivery of bonds or notes, and bonds or notes for which sufficient funds have been deposited with the paying agent or trustee to provide for payment of principal and interest thereon, and any redemption premium, as provided in the authorizing resolution, shall not be considered outstanding for the purposes of this paragraph.

(H) The bonds and notes of the Authority shall not be indebtedness of the City of Chicago, of the State, or of any political subdivision of the State other than the Authority. The bonds and notes of the Authority are not general obligations of the State of Illinois or the City of Chicago, or of any other political subdivision of the State other than the Authority, and are not secured by a pledge of the full faith and credit of the State of Illinois or the City of Chicago, or of any other political subdivision of the State other than the Authority, and the holders of bonds and notes of the Authority may not require the levy or imposition by the State or the City of Chicago, or any other political subdivision of the State other than the Authority, of any taxes or, except as provided in this Act, the application of revenues or funds of the State of Illinois or the City of Chicago or any other political subdivision of the State other than the Authority to the payment of bonds and notes of the Authority.

(I) In order to provide for the payment of debt service requirements (including amounts for reserve funds and to pay the costs of credit enhancements) on bonds issued pursuant to this Act, the Authority may provide in any trust agreement securing such bonds for a pledge and assignment of its right to all amounts to be received from the Illinois Sports Facilities Fund and for a pledge and assignment (subject to the terms of any management agreement or assistance agreement) of all taxes and other amounts to be received under Section 19 of this Act and may further provide by written notice to the State Treasurer and State Comptroller (which notice shall constitute a direction to those officers) for a direct payment of these amounts to the trustee for its bondholders.

(J) The State of Illinois pledges to and agrees with the holders of the bonds and notes of the Authority issued pursuant to this Act that the State will not limit or alter the rights and powers vested in the Authority by this Act so as to impair the terms of any contract made by the Authority with such holders or in any way impair the rights and remedies of such holders until such bonds and notes, together with interest thereon, with interest on any unpaid installments of interest, and all costs and expenses in connection with any action or proceedings by or on behalf of such holders, are fully met and discharged. In addition, the State pledges to and agrees with the holders of the bonds and notes of the Authority issued pursuant to this Act that the State will not limit or alter the basis on which State funds are to be allocated, deposited and paid to the Authority as provided in this Act, or the use of such funds, so as to impair the terms of any such contract. The Authority is authorized to include these pledges and agreements of the State in any contract with the holders of bonds or notes issued pursuant to this Section. Nothing in Public Act 102-16 this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly is intended to limit or alter the rights and powers of the Authority so as to impair the terms of any contract made by the Authority with the holders of the bonds and notes of the Authority issued pursuant to this Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-16, eff. 6-17-21; revised 7-25-24.)

(70 ILCS 3205/7.8 rep.)

Section 10. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority Act is amended by repealing Section 7.8.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.