Arizona House Majority Leader John McComish will introduce a bill in the House this week in hopes of raising money to preserve the Cactus League and keep the Cubs' spring training home in Arizona, according to an e-mail sent to team reporters on Tuesday night.

The amendment would create a funding source for future Cactus League cities and teams, including the Cubs' facility as well as retire a multi-million dollar debt left behind in Pima County (Tucson) with the White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies moving to Maricopa County spring training facilities by 2011. The White Sox left Tucson in 2009 for their new home in Glendale, Ariz., a facility they share with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"We had a meeting with members of both houses trying to come up with legislation that makes the most sense to raise money for a spring training project and also settle the debt in Pima County," said Brian Townsend, McComish's senior policy advisor.

The new bill would eliminate the $1 additional surcharge on rental cars in order to raise funds. McComish's proposal hopes to create direct user-generated funding by charging a surtax on every spring training ticket sold. This procedure would take the burden of funding future spring training projects off taxpayers and the car rental industry and put the cost directly on the ticket buyers for spring training games. Of course, that indirectly impacts each of the 15 major-league teams that participate in spring training in Arizona.

The bill that will be introduced on Thursday will raise $185 million over 30 years to pay for the Cubs new $84 million facility as well as future projects.

"Congressman McComish felt that we had to get lsgislation in that made sense within the next six weeks," Townsend said.

The Cubs declined to comment.