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Fingers point on Quincy veterans’ home

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The city of Quincy is building a new, alternate water source that will feed cleaner water to its residents and those who live at the Illinois Veterans’ Home, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today.

City officials will break ground on a large diameter, Ranney collector well in August. It’s being partially funded through a $3 million grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will cover half the cost of construction. The City of Quincy will cover the remaining costs and will operate the new well.

* Rauner campaign…

“Pritzker is trying to have it both ways by calling Governor Rauner’s trips to Quincy ‘a political stunt.’ It’s time for Pritzker to put politics aside and call on Madigan to pass the funding bill through the General Assembly to get this done for the veterans at Quincy.” -Rauner campaign spokesman Will Allison

* A short video provided by the Rauner campaign shows Pritzker did, indeed, refer to Rauner’s Quincy visit as a “political stunt”…

* The Pritzker campaign, however, provided this transcript from today…

Reporter: So should the legislature authorize the $250 million dollars?

JB: I do believe the legislature is going to have to act to, again, the reports give us a couple of options here and one of them is tearing down the existing buildings and replacing them, moving the residents. Here’s the most important thing we’ve got to do and act upon right now: make sure our veterans and their families are safe. That’s the principle you have to act on from the very beginning, it’s taken him two and a half years or more to get there. So whatever money gets spent right now has to be money to make sure our veterans are safe and secure.

* The bill in question is SB3611. The legislation would appropriate $16.1 million for “campus improvements, water quality improvement projects, and emergency capital projects at the Quincy Veterans Home including, but not limited to, any other State owned building in Quincy.” It also appropriates $230 million for “campus upgrades, and other capital improvements.”

The bill was just introduced today. Its effective date isn’t until July 1.

Needless to say, sending an appropriations bill over to the House in mid-May is not something the Senate Democrats would like to do. Speaker Madigan could use that approp bill to make all sorts of mischief with amendments. In the past, he’s amended Senate appropriations bills with the House’s budget, launched them across the rotunda and then immediately adjourned, leaving the Senate the choice of passing it as-is or forcing an overtime session.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 3:20 pm

Comments

Why hadn’t the Governor acted until now? Where were his visits last year? He sat on this and did not respond in a timely manner.

Rauner can’t ignore deaths in Quincy until he feels that he looks bad. Does anyone believe he would be publically discussing this if polls showed him comfortably leading?

So yes- Rauner made it a political stunt, by treating Quincy as a political problem.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:01 pm
Just read some mumbo jumbo from Jill Tracy who refered to the GovJunk cover-up (and new water system) as “proactive” Very funny three + year scandal — hardly proactive

Comment by Annonin' Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:25 pm
“The city of Quincy is building a new, alternate water source that will feed cleaner water to its residents and those who live at the Illinois Veterans’ Home.”

1. By replacing the city’s water source, would new buildings for the Veteran’s Homes still need to be built?

2. Can someone explain to me why the governor did not approve IEPA $3M grant for water replacement in Quincy 3 years ago?

Comment by Mama Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:34 pm
SB3611 was just introduced today?

Why was it delayed until today?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:38 pm
Is this story actually resonating with anyone? Outside of the bubble?

Comment by Saluki Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:39 pm
===Is this story actually resonating with anyone? Outside of the bubble?===

Other than the 13 families that lost loved ones, the residents of the facility, the workers of the facility…

Other than them…

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:42 pm
“Speaker Madigan could use that approp. bill to make all sorts of mischief with amendments.”

Because this bill is a political hot potato, Madigan would be crazy to playing that game.

Comment by Mama Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:44 pm
The Quincy Veterans Home story is actually resonating with all veterans & their families - not just the ones whom are housed there.

Comment by Mama Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 4:47 pm
It wasn’t a political stunt?

I’m not a veteran but what this whole mess says to me is that Bruce Rauner doesn’t care about people at all.

Comment by Cheryl44 Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 5:06 pm
==Is this story actually resonating with anyone? Outside of the bubble?==

…I’m going to assume this is a sincere question, because I can’t imagine anyone is so aloof that they can’t see why people care about 13 dead veterans.

So, yes. Yes, this story is resonating with lots of people.

Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 5:12 pm
–1. By replacing the city’s water source, would new buildings for the Veteran’s Homes still need to be built?–

That’s a good question, Mama. I suspect that a number of the buildings might have other structural/construction issues (apart from their water sourcing) due to their age that would make replacement advisable if not imperative.

Comment by dbk Wednesday, May 16, 18 @ 5:24 pm
Is anyone else bothered by the “provide CLEANER water” statement? How about providing them with clean 100% safe drinking water? Cleaner just comes across to me as a half-a** effort to fix the problem.

Comment by Bobby Hicks Thursday, May 17, 18 @ 8:13 am