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Today’s Popcorn Moment: Rep Danny Lopez on his vote to bring the Bears to Indiana · Tony Katz | Popcorn Moment

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So are the Bears worth it? I mean, what did
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: we actually give up? What is it that we said
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: we would do in a stadium deal? Does it make
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  Speaker 1: any sense? There are some people who will always tell
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: you now, and certainly there is a history of these
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: stadium funding deals that work out bad for the people,
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  Speaker 1: but there also seems to be an opportunity for Northwest
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  Speaker 1: Indiana to have something that allows them to build around
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  Speaker 1: it and turn around years and years and years of
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: if only Tony Katz ninety three WIBC, good morning, Good
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  Speaker 1: to be with you. Danny Lopez joins me right now,
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  Speaker 1: state a representative serves on House ways and means that's
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: where they had the vote. This was about Senate Bill
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven talking about Hammond as a possible place for
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  Speaker 1: this stadium project. Representative Lopez, prih you being with us,
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  Speaker 1: walk me through this. Why is this legislation that you
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  Speaker 1: were in favor of?
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  Speaker 2: Hey, Tony, good morning, Thanks for having me on. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I mean you hit a lot of the points. This
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  Speaker 2: was a really really great day for Northwest Indiana and
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  Speaker 2: for really the state. I think, and you're right, I
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  Speaker 2: mean there's a lot of debate around whether or not
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  Speaker 2: these investments are worth it. The one thing that there'll
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  Speaker 2: be a lot of misinformation. The one thing I want
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  Speaker 2: to make super clear is these aren't general fund dollars.
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  Speaker 2: These are but four dollars, which means that when you
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  Speaker 2: set up one of these districts and you capture food
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  Speaker 2: and beverage taxes or innkeeper tax, hotel taxes, these dollars
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  Speaker 2: are contingent upon a massive investment in northwest Indiana by
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  Speaker 2: not just the Bears, but the NFL, and so it
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  Speaker 2: doesn't involve those those general fund dollars. And so people
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  Speaker 2: will say, well, these are dollars you should go to roads,
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  Speaker 2: or these are dollars they should go to education. And
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  Speaker 2: the truth is, because of the way this deal is structured,
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  Speaker 2: and you've got to give the speaker a ton of
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  Speaker 2: credit the way that this deal is going to be structure,
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  Speaker 2: it really does make a lot of sense, not just
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  Speaker 2: for the people in Lake County and Porter County, but
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  Speaker 2: really across the state. And we've done this before. It
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  Speaker 2: aligns so well Tony with what I think we do
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  Speaker 2: extremely well, which is host things. I mean, I'm on
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  Speaker 2: the Sports Corp board, I've seen it. It's a game
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  Speaker 2: changer when you start thinking about Olympic swimming trials and
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  Speaker 2: NBA All Star Games and Final Fours, and the opportunity
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  Speaker 2: to do not just Bears football, NFL football, but incredible
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  Speaker 2: events in northwest Indiana is really going to be a
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  Speaker 2: game changer for the entire area.
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  Speaker 1: Now the pushback will come to you, sir, that you
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  Speaker 1: say that it's but four dollars, meaning that you're not
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  Speaker 1: putting out the dollars, you're allowing for the tax world
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  Speaker 1: to be created for some of these dollars to be recouped.
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  Speaker 1: But there clearly is an investment there. Really, there clearly
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  Speaker 1: is something being done utilized by state government when that
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  Speaker 1: money could go to other things. And you often hear
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  Speaker 1: we can't fix the properties tax conversation or the issue,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: which is real, it does exist, it is a problem,
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  Speaker 1: but we can do this as if it's a gimme.
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  Speaker 1: How do you go back on that conversation? How do
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  Speaker 1: you explain it to people?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think it's a I think we can
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  Speaker 2: walk in QE. Gump. At the same time, I think
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  Speaker 2: we've first of all, I think we've done quite a
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  Speaker 2: bit on the taxation side. I mean, it's what seventeen
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  Speaker 2: years now running where we've lowered taxes, either local income
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  Speaker 2: taxes or state income taxes or property taxes, we've got Look,
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  Speaker 2: the fact is we've got a healthy tax structure. That's
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  Speaker 2: what enables us to draw this two billion with a
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  Speaker 2: B investment from the Bears and from the NFL. Without
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  Speaker 2: this tax structure that we have that we've invested in
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  Speaker 2: over two decades, we wouldn't be able to draw this
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  Speaker 2: kind of investment. So I actually think that we're doing
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  Speaker 2: all of those things. And when you structure a deal
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  Speaker 2: that says the users of the venue are going to
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  Speaker 2: ultimately pay for the construction of the venue and everything
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  Speaker 2: that's going to go around it, Tony, because I think
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  Speaker 2: that's the other piece that's lost. Look, I grew up
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  Speaker 2: know this. I grew up in Miami. It was born
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  Speaker 2: and raised Miami in the eighties and nineties when when
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  Speaker 2: Joe Robbie Stadium now It's hard Rock Stadium was built.
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  Speaker 2: It was built out on the county line between Daden
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  Speaker 2: Brower Counties, and the argument at that time was, well,
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  Speaker 2: we're gonna put a stadium here and it's going to
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  Speaker 2: revitalize this entire area. The truth is it didn't do that,
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  Speaker 2: and the reason it didn't do that was because of
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  Speaker 2: what we know now, which is it's not just the stadium,
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  Speaker 2: it's the ancillary district that gets built, and that's part
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  Speaker 2: of their investment, by the way, not ours. That's part
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  Speaker 2: of their investment to build this district around the stadium
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  Speaker 2: that has retail and mixed use in restaurants and hotels
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  Speaker 2: and things that draw revenue into the county that can
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  Speaker 2: be used to pay for the construction in the operation
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  Speaker 2: of the building. So I mean, I think again there's
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  Speaker 2: an opportunity to do all of those things. It's not
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  Speaker 2: taking away from general bond. We have a line that
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  Speaker 2: the speaker talked about it yesterday. Thing mechanically. It's important
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  Speaker 2: for people to understand there's an appropriation in the budget
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  Speaker 2: every time that we do a budget for Lucas Oil's say,
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  Speaker 2: we've never drawn on and it's there to backstop the
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  Speaker 2: bond so that bond holders feel good about making this investment.
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  Speaker 2: But it's just a backstop. It's never been tapped and
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  Speaker 2: this is going to be the same thing. The users
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  Speaker 2: of the venue and the people living in these counties
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  Speaker 2: are the ones that are going to ultimately fund the construction,
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  Speaker 2: and it's a major, major investment.
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  Speaker 1: And let's talk about that. Talking to state Representative Danny Lopez,
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  Speaker 1: there will be a twelve percent emission tax on large
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  Speaker 1: events held in the city of Hammond, a county wide
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  Speaker 1: one percent food and beverage tax in Lake Importer Counties,
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  Speaker 1: a five percent innkeeper tax in Lake County. So those
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  Speaker 1: are taxes that are getting increased on people, not necessarily
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  Speaker 1: those who are enjoying the game, but you are or
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  Speaker 1: events at at this new stadium. But we talk about
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  Speaker 1: the two billion dollars that the Bears will put in
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  Speaker 1: towards infrastructure and stadium construction. When we talk about Lucas Oil,
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  Speaker 1: did the Colts put in two billion dollars? And is
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  Speaker 1: two billion dollars enough? I can't even believe I'm saying
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  Speaker 1: the words. Is it enough to make us all say
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  Speaker 1: this is a worthy in investments because that's real skin
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  Speaker 1: in the game.
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  Speaker 2: Oh man, I think that's absolutely real skin in the game.
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  Speaker 2: And especially when you're talking about northwest Indiana. One point
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  Speaker 2: that I want to point out is, especially with that
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  Speaker 2: innkeeper tax, that hotel tax, buy and large those are
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  Speaker 2: not hoosiers that are paying for that, right, Those are
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  Speaker 2: taxes that are paying for people that are coming in
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  Speaker 2: by people who are coming in and staying in hotels
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  Speaker 2: up in Lake County. And again, those are the folks
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  Speaker 2: that are going to be coming in for these major events.
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  Speaker 2: So I mean, I think, especially on that one, it's
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's easy to see how it's not us
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  Speaker 2: taxing our local people. But I mean, look, Tony, when
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  Speaker 2: you think about every three seconds, every three seconds, somebody
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  Speaker 2: moving from Illinois into Lake County or into Indiana. It's
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  Speaker 2: part of the reason, it's a big part of the
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  Speaker 2: reason that as a state we continue to grow while
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  Speaker 2: all the other states around us are losing population and
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  Speaker 2: dying on the mine. And it's because we've put in
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  Speaker 2: the amenities, the double tracking of the of the south Shore,
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  Speaker 2: the investments in something like Sports Corps, the investments in
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  Speaker 2: our tax structure that we been able to do that,
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  Speaker 2: and the explosion in Marrable has been huge. It's one
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  Speaker 2: of the places in our state that's absolutely thriving. But
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  Speaker 2: as you know, and I experienced this when I came
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  Speaker 2: to work for Mitch in twenty ten, we've not been
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  Speaker 2: able to solve the sort of the Lake County issue.
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  Speaker 2: How do you really rejuvenate and put Lake County in
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  Speaker 2: the entire region really on the right track. And this
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  Speaker 2: is an opportunity to do it. It's an opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: do it in the way that draws down real money
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  Speaker 2: from outside of the state. That's a massive injection to
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  Speaker 2: the entire calum At region.
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  Speaker 1: Well wait, let me ask it this way. Has anybody
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  Speaker 1: come to the state and said, well, if the bears
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  Speaker 1: are coming, we're willing to put in X, Y and
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  Speaker 1: Z at this at this amount of dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think this is a fairly new conversation, right,
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  Speaker 2: I mean I would look at it like that's a
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  Speaker 2: lot of what the opportunity is going to be. Right
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  Speaker 2: when you've got an amenity like this, and we've seen
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  Speaker 2: it in downtown, when you've got an amenity like this,
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  Speaker 2: the opportunity for growth and economic development in that area
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  Speaker 2: just changes. It just changes the conversations that were are
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  Speaker 2: economic development folks and local economic development folks are happy.
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  Speaker 2: You got to have stuff to sell, right, you got
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  Speaker 2: to have something that's pretty that people want to follow.
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  Speaker 2: And an injection of capital like this I think sends
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  Speaker 2: the right signal to two investors and we have seen it.
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  Speaker 2: I mean you saw a massive investment by Nippon Steel
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  Speaker 2: up there at the harbor, so yeah, I mean you've
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  Speaker 2: already seen an amazing deals that have come into Northwest Indiana.
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  Speaker 2: I think this only the supercharges.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I don't even know if the money actually came
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  Speaker 1: to napon Steel up there. There was going to happen,
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  Speaker 1: and then it got held off on So I'm not
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  Speaker 1: one hundred sent sure that money got there. That was
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  Speaker 1: the original plan. I would like to see if the
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  Speaker 1: money has officially gotten there and then see some results
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  Speaker 1: before I let you go. State Representative Danny Lopez on
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  Speaker 1: the vote to work to bring the Bears to Northwest Indiana.
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  Speaker 1: What kills this deal? Right? We know that the Governor J. B.
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  Speaker 1: Pritzker of Illinois is angry. The Mayor Brandon Johnson seems apoplectic,
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  Speaker 1: but he always seems apoplectic. This is moving along, and
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  Speaker 1: the Bears have said is moving along. They're even discussing
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  Speaker 1: a name change. According to Kevin Warren, the team president.
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  Speaker 1: What blows this deal up? What makes you, Danny Lopez,
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  Speaker 1: if there's a change, what is the change that would
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  Speaker 1: make you say I'm.
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  Speaker 2: Out that I don't know I mean, look, i'd say, Tony,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not you know, I'm not right in the middle
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  Speaker 2: of these conversations. I'm not you know the way our
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  Speaker 2: leadership is, so I don't know that there's a long
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  Speaker 2: way to go. You know. I want to be sort
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  Speaker 2: of cautious about this because until you and I both know,
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  Speaker 2: until shovels are in the ground, it's not a done deal.
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  Speaker 2: And there's a lot of work that has to be
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  Speaker 2: that has to be done between now and then to
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  Speaker 2: make sure that you know, iSER dotted and teaser crossed.
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  Speaker 2: So I want to be careful about that. We're we're
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  Speaker 2: sort of approaching this with a lot of optimism, but
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  Speaker 2: I think everybody's cautiously optimistic and understanding that they're Illinois
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  Speaker 2: is not going to let this go quietly, obviously, and
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  Speaker 2: so I think there's a ways to go. I look
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  Speaker 2: at this, Tony, just in all transparency. What excites me
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  Speaker 2: the most, I think, and what I want people to
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  Speaker 2: be excited about I'm proud about. I want who's you
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  Speaker 2: used to be proud about? Is that this, to me
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  Speaker 2: is a signal that the investments we have made for
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  Speaker 2: the last twenty years have positioned us to compete in
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  Speaker 2: a way that two decades ago was unimaginable in this state.
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  Speaker 2: The fact that the Chicago Bears are looking at Indiana
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  Speaker 2: as a better option than Illinois right now, or frankly,
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  Speaker 2: any other place in this region in the Midwest as
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  Speaker 2: a better option tells me that what we've done for
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  Speaker 2: the last twenty years, investing in ourselves, in our tax structure,
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  Speaker 2: in our amenities, in our infrastructure, is paying off. Has
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  Speaker 2: paid off. We've seen that. We've been talking about that
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  Speaker 2: for the last several years, and it just as a
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  Speaker 2: signal that we continue to be open for business and
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  Speaker 2: we're going to continue to drive these economic developments. We
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  Speaker 2: should be proud of this, regardless of how this thing
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  Speaker 2: plays out. I want people to be proud of the
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  Speaker 2: fact that we're in these conversations in a way that
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: we never were before.
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  Speaker 1: As long as we are not fleeced, we could be proud.
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  Speaker 1: Representative of Danny Lopez, I appreciate you taking the time
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  Speaker 1: to be with us. The Popcorn Moment brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by b Are Remodeling