ILLINOIS POLITICIANS SKEPTICAL ABOUT STADIUM TAXES

     IL House Democratic leader Michael Madigan said yesterday if
Republicans want to build a domed stadium for the Bears, they
will have to put up all of the votes for the measure unless they
accede to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's demand for regional or
statewide taxes to fund the project, according to the CHICAGO
TRIBUNE.  A spokesperson for Republican House Speaker Lee Daniels
said, "We've said all along that any new stadium, whether Soldier
Field or McDome, would have to be ratified by the Mayor and
carried by his (Democratic) delegation."  Rick Pearson writes,
"The game of power politics in a legislative election year is a
larger priority to the leaders than football" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
1/10).  A report in yesterday' TRIBUNE indicated that McCormick
place officials are outlining a plan to finance a $435M dome
stadium with existing tourism taxes, team revenue and a split of
the public works costs between the city and state (Pearson &
Christian, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/9).