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* Gov. Rauner got some solid press pops yesterday. From KWQC TV…
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation that expands the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy and cuts the red tape on future construction projects, allowing the administration to move quickly to build a new state-of-the-art facility at the campus.
“We’re building a brand new facility and making sure our veterans have a safe place to call home,” Rauner said. “Building this new facility should not be caught up in the bureaucratic process. Our veterans deserve the best. They have fought to secure our freedom and we’re fighting to make sure they have the care they need for generations to come.”
* Quincy Herald Whig…
Rauner’s administration has outlined a $230 million plan to update the 130-year-old campus, first replacing ancient, corroded plumbing that provides a breeding ground for Legionella bacteria that can sicken when it’s inhaled in water vapor. Lawmakers approved $53 million for the first of what officials expect to be a five-year plan, said Michael Hoffman, Rauner’s senior adviser.
“I’m glad to see the governor taking such swift action to begin construction on one of Quincy’s most important landmarks,” said Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy. “Securing the design-build contract is one of the final steps to kick-start the Quincy Veterans’ Home $52 million capital development plan.”
* SJ-R…
“There is no one who believed that the entire facility and the entire plumbing facility needed to be replaced,” Rauner said. “No one knew that; no one believed that.”
Rauner said it only became apparent over time that the entire plumbing system had to be replaced to make the buildings safe.
Rauner would not say what he plans to do with two other bills that lawmakers passed in response to the Quincy problems. One would require that family members, staff and others be notified within 24 hours of a Legionnaires’ outbreak at a facility. The other would raise the cap on damages people can get from the state if their relatives died of Legionnaires’ at Quincy.
* WSIL TV…
The Democratic Governor’s Association says he’s trying to “wipe his hands” of the ordeal while Sen. Tom Cullerton said he doesn’t deserve a pat on the back for trying to govern at the 11th hour. JB Pritzker, Rauner’s opponent in November, says it’s too little, too late.
Rep. Randy Frese (R-Quincy) said they need the help, regardless of the timing. “The heroes that reside there deserve certainly deserve the very best care,” Frese said.
* But Greg Bishop of the Illinois News Network picked up on something that I think everybody else missed, including the Chicago types…
Touting bipartisan success on implementing fixes to the troubled Quincy Veterans Home, Rauner said taxpayers are going to have to eat the cost of an unfinished veterans home in Chicago.
That $70 million-plus project in Chicago began in September 2014 and still sits unfinished. Rauner took office in January 2015. After signing legislation Tuesday to speed up the Quincy project, Rauner said the Chicago project needs to be scrapped.
“There’s a classic Illinois government bureaucracy at work,” Rauner said. “That veterans home has been stumbling and struggling and over budget and restarted for years, years and years, long before I became governor.”
Rauner said the process involved in the Chicago home is a “nightmare” and he’s committed to finishing the project but said many millions of tax dollars have been wasted already.
* Transcript…
REPORTER: Governor, the Chicago area has a veterans’ home that has been in need for how long? And to Representative Chapa LaVia‘ s point, yes, Quincy is an issue and it’s beyond time to address that. What about a building that is maybe unfinished costing taxpayers now?
RAUNER: Yeah, and one that frankly probably has to be mostly pretty much started completely over. There is a classic Illinois, government bureaucracy at work. That veterans’ home has been stumbling and struggling and over budget and restarting for years. Years and years. Long before I became governor. It is part of the problem of our system of procurement, part of the problem of our system of development and construction when it’s handled by the government bureaucracy. It’s really a nightmare and we need to improve it. I am committed to making sure that that veterans’ home is completed and that we change the process so it’s done on time and on budget. Because right now it’s been, prior to my becoming governor, that project a complete mess. And really needs a complete redo.
REPORTER: Are you suggesting that we redo, I mean what about the millions of dollars that have been put into it already?
RAUNER: Oh boy. There have been many millions wasted on that facility.
* Yeah, well, the governor himself stopped construction on the Chicago facility during the impasse three years ago. Here’s Mark Brown in November of 2017…
A neglected five-story skeleton of a building on the city’s Northwest Side looks almost exactly like it did when I last visited two years ago, except for the weeds being taller and the temporary braces rustier.
By now, this was supposed to be a new Illinois Veterans Home, the first to be located in the Chicago area where the largest concentration of the state’s veterans reside.
Instead, it remains a sad brick-and-concrete symbol of the dysfunction in Illinois government.
Gov. Bruce Rauner halted construction on the project in July 2015 in the early stages of his state budget fight with Democratic legislators.
And that’s exactly how the abandoned structure remains 29 months later, open and exposed to the elements of what will soon be its third winter.
To be fair, some serious design flaws were discovered after Rauner eventually restarted the project (which was after he called the whole idea “wasteful spending”), but he didn’t know that when he put the kibosh on the plan in the summer of 2015. It could’ve been open by now if he hadn’t shut down the project.
* Something to keep in mind…
The Chicago area is home to more than half of the 764,000 veterans in the state, according to the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, but the closest skilled nursing home with specialized care for veterans is more than an hour drive south of Chicago, in Kankakee County.
So, the governor forcefully pushes a $230 million plan to upgrade an ancient facility way out in western Illinois at a cost of almost a million dollars per resident, but grumbles about the cost of a Chicago facility where most of our veterans live?
And here I thought this was supposed to be campaign season. Oh, wait. “Chicago.” Right.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:04 pm
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This is the issue that will win Pritzker the election. His crew needs to focus on the veterans problems, over and over again. Rauner has been a complete disaster when it comes to veteran issues.
Comment by Retired Educator Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:24 pm
$230 million to Quincy, scrap Chicago, sounds about right for Bruce to constantly beat up his favorite enemy Chicago.
Comment by Frank talks Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:32 pm
Why does Bruce Rauner hate our veterans so much?
Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 12:41 pm
===Why does Bruce Rauner hate our veterans so much?===
Just the Chicago veterans…apparently the Quincy vets have sacrificed enough even for Rauner to pony up belatedly.
Comment by PublicServant Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:26 pm
–And here I thought this was supposed to be campaign season. Oh, wait. “Chicago.” Right.–
The ROI in Rauner votes for a $230 million taxpayer funded project in Quincy is much higher than a cheaper project in Chicago.
Fiscal responsibility and the well-being of veterans has nothing to do with it.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:37 pm
The political math seems to be that votes needed in Quincy and western Illinois are more precious than the 20% threshold Chicago needs to give Rauner…
Thus… revisionist history.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 1:41 pm
Q.How many times in a week do you hate Veterans?
A. I don’t hate Veterans!
#Trickybag
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 2:49 pm
It really makes no sense to sink money into Quincy when the VA hospitals are so far from there. If a veteran needs VA hospital services, he or she has to go half way across the state.
Comment by A Jack Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 2:56 pm
Right A Jack. Lovell, Hines and Brown are all in the Chicago metro area.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 3:45 pm
= If a veteran needs VA hospital services, he or she has to go half way across the state. =
The Iowa City VA hospital is just over 2 hours away from Quincy. Illinois’ nearest VA hospital in Danville is 4 hours away.
Comment by cover Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 3:52 pm
Illinois population is a little under 13 million. The Chicago metropolitan area is 9.5 million. So wha are the reasons AGAINST a veteran’s home? The veterans can have family visit them. They can continue going to their important social events, church etc. A social life is very important.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 4:01 pm
==Illinois population is a little under 13 million. The Chicago metropolitan area is 9.5 million. So wha are the reasons AGAINST a veteran’s home?==
5 reasons. 1) Bruce Rauner believes that republicans hate Chicago and its people (probably not a incorrect assumption). 2) Bruce Rauner is trying to secure the votes of all of those republicans. 3) Rauner is betting that removing the possibility of a veterans home (despite the financial loss of sunk costs) from being built in Chicago will make republicans happy. 4) Rauner is also betting that only providing financial support for a veterans home in western Illinois and not for a veterans home in Chicago will also make republicans happy. And 5) Bruce Rauner believes that if republicans are happy with the way he treats Chicago and it’s people, they will vote for Bruce Rauner and not Sam McCann.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 4:12 pm
Nice work on presenting this altogether. Our media are pretty embarrassingly parochial sometimes.
Comment by Angry Chicagoan Wednesday, Jul 18, 18 @ 7:23 pm
Lester Holt’s Mustache: A Chicago veteran’s home wouldn’t just serve Chicago, it would serve the Chicago metropolitan area, including some conservative areas (like the home of Jeanne Ives, Wheaton.) But the BTIA might be too obtuse to get that.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Jul 19, 18 @ 7:44 am