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Speaker 1: So when the subject first came up of the Chicago

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Speaker 1: Bears coming to Indiana, right they couldn't create a deal

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Speaker 1: to get them the stadium they wanted in Chicago in

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Speaker 1: Arlington Heights. So they're like, well, we'll take a look

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Speaker 1: at Indiana, and Indiana said, I think rightfully, so, well,

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Speaker 1: that's interesting to us northwest Indiana, Chicago land area.

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Speaker 2: We've got space.

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Speaker 1: And a town called Gary put in their plan, and

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Speaker 1: a town called ham And put in their plan, and

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Speaker 1: then later on a town called Portage put in their plan.

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Speaker 2: And the state went about.

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Speaker 1: Trying to say, hey, we can make this happen, and

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Speaker 1: you're gonna save so much money for your team by

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Speaker 1: being in Indiana versus being in Illinois.

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Speaker 2: But there's got to be some investments.

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Speaker 1: And that has been my point that I don't think

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Speaker 1: any stadium deal can come if the Bears are not

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Speaker 1: gonna have some skin in the game.

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Speaker 2: Tony Katz to Cats today, good to be with you.

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Speaker 1: The governor of Indiana, Mike Braun, joins me right now.

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Speaker 1: He's in DC for the Republican governors meet up there

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Speaker 1: the RGA, and then he'll be meeting with all the

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Speaker 1: governors and President Trump over the weekend, and sir.

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Speaker 2: This has been a this has been a back and

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Speaker 2: forth thing.

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Speaker 1: And when you're talking about NFL teams moving their site

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Speaker 1: the place where.

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Speaker 2: They play, it's a big deal. So let's start with

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Speaker 2: where we are.

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Speaker 1: What is it that got passed today from the House

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Speaker 1: Ways and Means Committee here in the Indiana General Assembly,

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Speaker 1: And where do you think this takes us?

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Speaker 3: So I'll get to that, but I want to tell

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Speaker 3: you the context of three years where the Bears had

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Speaker 3: been dealing with their own state, in their own city

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Speaker 3: and mostly would be they got the cold shoulders. So

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Speaker 3: we actually started this conversation before it was even a

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Speaker 3: public issue to do make sure we were doing all

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Speaker 3: the do delas and towhere. It had to be done

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Speaker 3: without much public discussion, and that all crossed the threshold

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Speaker 3: when they made their statement in terms of how far

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Speaker 3: we're along. And yes, we did what needed to be

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Speaker 3: done in our own state government to make sure that

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Speaker 3: we were never going to be holding it up or

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Speaker 3: an impediment to it. Blessing for me is building a business.

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Speaker 3: Over thirty seven years, I understood the dynamic being governor

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Speaker 3: to have to kind of orchestrate it. We weren't going

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Speaker 3: to do anything that jeopardized their own due diligence. But

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Speaker 3: it is now publicly in a place where some are

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Speaker 3: saying it's a done deal. It's a big move from

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Speaker 3: where it would have been just weeks ago when they

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Speaker 3: were still saying this is a bargaining position from the

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Speaker 3: point of the Bearers wanting to work something out. So

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Speaker 3: I think I saw today where the state legislature didn't

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Speaker 3: make a move on doing anything, and that's public. So

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Speaker 3: these are a lot of things starting to drop.

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Speaker 1: After indianimate its move. It seems that the Illinois Legislature

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Speaker 1: decided not to have their meeting about this. But you

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Speaker 1: talk about this has been in the works. Was this

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Speaker 1: something that started after you became governor or did this

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Speaker 1: start before your term began?

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Speaker 3: I think from my kind of recall of the timeline,

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Speaker 3: this has been off and on as a discussion in

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Speaker 3: terms of the what are the Bears going to do?

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Speaker 3: They definitely did. They got a lease remaining at Soldiers

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Speaker 3: Field and Arlington Heights, of course, is what you heard about,

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Speaker 3: and that's where everybody thought it was going to go

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Speaker 3: probably four to five months ago. Though that wasn't working out.

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Speaker 3: They weren't seeing anything happening in Chicago from the state legislature.

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Speaker 3: That's when discussions behind the scenes started occurring, and all

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Speaker 3: I can tell you is we were engaging. We were

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Speaker 3: never the hold up, and it actually moved pretty quickly

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Speaker 3: from that point to where we are now talking to

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Speaker 3: the Governor of Indiana, Mike Brawn about the possibility of

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Speaker 3: the Chicago Bears moving to Indiana.

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Speaker 1: Now, as I understand it, they would play their games

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Speaker 1: in Indiana new stadium in Indiana, but they're still just

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Speaker 1: call themselves Chicago. There's still all Chicago. They're still going

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Speaker 1: to be based in Chicago, or are they talking about

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Speaker 1: bringing team operations to Indiana.

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Speaker 3: So I think they've gotten a pretty good glimpse of

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Speaker 3: what the difference of being a business in Indiana would

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Speaker 3: be compared to the state, and they've been domiciled in

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Speaker 3: So my thinking is going to be obviously, a stadium

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Speaker 3: and all the things you're generally getting around it, all

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Speaker 3: the answ very economic benefits, and they're going to probably

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Speaker 3: be poised to move as much logistically that makes sense

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Speaker 3: into a state that's going to be easier to have

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Speaker 3: a business in. And those details aren't fleshed out. We're

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Speaker 3: just getting the stuff we know we need to get

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Speaker 3: done with the due diligence they have to do to

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Speaker 3: where it just cascaded to a point where many are surprised.

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Speaker 3: Of course, I've got folks saying it is.

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Speaker 2: A done deal.

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Speaker 3: It's not that, but it's moved a long way.

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Speaker 1: So now we see that this is possible, we see

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Speaker 1: that they're talking about it openly, that they are open

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Speaker 1: to the concept.

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Speaker 2: Let's talk about the money.

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Speaker 1: Sir, because there's a real argument about what these things cost,

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Speaker 1: and what they cost who's your taxpayers, right the people

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Speaker 1: of Indiana and every state anytime they deal with a

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Speaker 1: pro team and oh they need a new stated and

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Speaker 1: here they have billions of dollars, but they never put

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Speaker 1: up any money, and we're the ones who end up

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Speaker 1: paying for the stadium. My argument has been that I

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Speaker 1: am fine with the ancillary things as we discuss them.

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Speaker 1: I'm fine with with off ramps, I'm fine with new highways,

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Speaker 1: these these infrastructure things that will will be huge for us,

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Speaker 1: But there has to be some skin in the game.

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Speaker 1: The Chicago Bears have to write a check. In the

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Speaker 1: conversation that we're having now about a possible stadium. Do

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Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears write a check for their own stadium?

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Speaker 3: So when you get into those details, I'm not going

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Speaker 3: to discuss them publicly.

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Speaker 4: But oh, you can tell you this is one where

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Speaker 4: you can look very closely in terms of a general

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Speaker 4: model of what we did with the cults, And of

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Speaker 4: course all of the things you just said in a

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Speaker 4: fairly sharp summary will be part of that discussion.

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Speaker 3: And yes, skin in the game is something that I

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Speaker 3: think is going to be part of how you extrapolate

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Speaker 3: economic benefits into it. How much this means in terms

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Speaker 3: of economic development, which gets into that cash flow projection.

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Speaker 3: I think things have worked out well in our own

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Speaker 3: state capital economic development wise, there's just as much, if

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Speaker 3: not more leverage to help an area that needs it,

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Speaker 3: which would be the region and especially that Hammer and

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Speaker 3: the Gary area. So skin in the game you like that.

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Speaker 3: I like that, And as we get to the final

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Speaker 3: deal working through due diligence, that'll be part of what

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Speaker 3: we're fleshing out.

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Speaker 1: I have seen where there are reports that the Bears

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Speaker 1: will be upwards of two billion dollars in can you

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Speaker 1: give us any inkling of not even the dollar amounts,

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Speaker 1: but yes, indeed, the Chicago Bears, if they come to

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Speaker 1: Indiana will indeed have skin in the game.

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Speaker 3: I'll tell you this much. When they can factor in

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Speaker 3: the amount of property tax savings that they will receive

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Speaker 3: at the level they're at in Indiana versus at the

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Speaker 3: extreme level they are where they're currently at. That's part

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Speaker 3: of how they're viewing this. And yes, not going to

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Speaker 3: give you an amount, but there's going to be skin

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Speaker 3: in the game. That's all part of what we're working out.

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Speaker 3: That one of the main factors would be the business climate.

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Speaker 3: They're going to be here for a good while if

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Speaker 3: and when they make the move, and that's factoring into

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Speaker 3: it heavily.

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Speaker 1: Talking to the Governor of Indiana, Mike Brown, this possibility

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Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears putting a stadium in Indiana playing

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Speaker 1: in Indiana, you know, I don't think, sir, knowing you

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Speaker 1: the little bit that I that I do, that you

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Speaker 1: take a look at Illinois and you say, poor baby.

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Speaker 1: Being able to steal this from Llanino has got to

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Speaker 1: feel pretty freaking awesome.

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Speaker 2: Have you spoken with Governor J. B. Pittzker of Illinois

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Speaker 2: about this?

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Speaker 3: No, I have not, And I think the real issue

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Speaker 3: is oh. I wasn't he in the mayor of Chicago

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Speaker 3: speaking to the Bearers and just here at the RGA

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Speaker 3: today we were talking about the good news of being

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Speaker 3: in Indiana or our GDP growth is twice that of Illinois,

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Speaker 3: three times out of Kentucky's, five times out of Michigan.

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Speaker 3: That's all due to the context, the climate, the regulation,

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Speaker 3: all of that. That's why people are voting with their

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Speaker 3: feet in many cases, businesses, families, and even large entities

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Speaker 3: like the Bearers. So we highlighted that among many states

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Speaker 3: where we're benefiting across the country. This is just another

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Speaker 3: example of it.

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Speaker 2: Is there anything in this deal that for you is

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Speaker 2: a no if?

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Speaker 1: Is there anything that has to be done, Like if

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Speaker 1: this does not part of this deal, I'm not.

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Speaker 2: Going to approve this. This isn't happening.

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Speaker 1: Do you have Governor Brawn a redline regarding the Bears

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Speaker 1: and a stadium in northwest Indiana.

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Speaker 3: So all I can tell you is how it's evolved

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Speaker 3: to where it is now. It's based upon some mutual

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Speaker 3: things that we've agreed to, and if any of that

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Speaker 3: would change along the lines of some of what we've

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Speaker 3: talked about, that would put a pause on it. Nothing

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Speaker 3: at this point because we've been methodical. We've been working

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Speaker 3: on this now you can see for many months. This

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Speaker 3: is just the first cascade, the first threshold to where

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Speaker 3: they were publicly out there with a statement that gave

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Speaker 3: us the competence because we wanted that to be coming

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Speaker 3: if we were going to do what we did in

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Speaker 3: our own state legislature. So it would have to be

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Speaker 3: something that is not currently been part of our discussions.

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Speaker 3: That is why I'm careful not to get ahead of

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Speaker 3: our skis. But it's been a conversation in good faith

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Speaker 3: with an honest broker on both sides of the deal.

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Speaker 2: What is the what is the next hurdle?

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Speaker 1: What is the thing that when people see it they

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Speaker 1: can say, my gosh, this is moving in a direction

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Speaker 1: of happening, just so we can be on the lookout.

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Speaker 3: Well, there would be always things with the real estate

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Speaker 3: that you're looking at. Most of that has been done.

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Speaker 3: A few minor things need to still get done, just

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Speaker 3: the things that you need to do on any major

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Speaker 3: transaction to make sure you've crossed your keys and dotted

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Speaker 3: your eyes. That is kind of where we're at, And

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Speaker 3: all I can tell you is we were real. We've

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Speaker 3: been ahead of it in every way we needed to be,

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Speaker 3: and we wanted to make sure that the culminating factor

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Speaker 3: to get to this point was if we do the legislation.

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Speaker 3: They're firmly committed to moving forward along the lines of

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Speaker 3: what I've described.

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Speaker 2: And you feel that they are fairly committed to moving forward.

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Speaker 2: I am yes, Governor Mike Brown.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you taking the time to be with us,

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Speaker 1: the governor of Indiana, sur a pleasure. More is coming up.

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Speaker 1: I'm Tony Katz. This is Tony Katz today,