According to a spokesman for Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, the state never filed legislation to grant Chicago its $150 million net if the Olympics were to come to Chicago in 2016.
Peter Sandusky, spokesman for Chicago 2016 said while the funds are needed to make the bid stronger, the state has until the February 2009 deadline.
The state has recently signed other big checks for Chicago, most notably, its $530 million bailout of the Chicago Transit Authority. But given the Chicago 2016 committee’s initial $2 billion estimate for bringing the games to the city, it’ll need a lot more than $150 million. Let’s just see if someone can make it happen.