Good morning, Chicago.

Indiana lawmakers took another step toward potentially luring the Chicago Bears to the state, as a key committee approved a plan to create an agency that would build a new stadium for the team.

The Indiana House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which oversees state spending, voted 24-0 Thursday to establish a northwest Indiana stadium authority empowered to issue bonds to finance, construct and lease a stadium for the Bears near Wolf Lake in Hammond.

The move comes as Republican Gov. Mike Braun and GOP lawmakers in Indianapolis have acted quickly to encourage the NFL charter franchise across the border, a development that would be a significant economic advantage for “The Region,” as northwest Indiana is called, as well as a political victory against Democratic-dominated Illinois. Republican House Speaker Todd Huston sponsored the measure, having called it “an incredible economic opportunity.”

As Indiana moved swiftly, Illinois lawmakers canceled a hearing in Springfield on proposed legislation that could help keep the Bears in Illinois. Matt Hill, a spokesman for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, said in a statement on social media that the Bears requested the Illinois hearing be paused.

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