The Illinois Legislature has taken the first step in the bid to attract the St. Louis Cardinals across the Mississippi River into the St. Louis suburbs of Illinois. The Illinois House has passed a bill that could eventually provide the framework for a stadium deal with theballclub. If summer talks between the Redbirds and the state show signs of promise, the bill would be amended in the fall veto session to create a new sports authority to provide the organizational structure to negotiate with the team to move to Illinois. The Illinois move follows the refusal of Missouri’s General Assembly to approve an economic development bill that would have provided public funding for a new stadium in downtown St. Louis.
