By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois House Republicans, many of them veterans, laid into the Pritzker administration for its response – or lack thereof – to the coronavirus outbreak which has killed 36 residents of the veterans’ home at La Salle.
“How could the governor and his team allow this to happen, knowing that our veterans were at risk prior to this pandemic?” asked State Rep. David Welter (R-Morris). “The question will continue to haunt the families of the heroes that we lost at the La Salle home and our other veterans’ homes around the state. House Republicans will continue our efforts to hold this administration accountable on their failure to protect the veterans in the state’s care.”
Just one governor ago, 13 residents of the veterans’ home at Quincy lost their lives in a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Republican Bruce Rauner was governor then, but lawmakers brushed aside a question over whether mismanagement of the state’s veterans’ homes is bipartisan.
But there is plenty of blame to go around. An inspector general characterized now-former state veterans’ affairs director Linda Chapa LaVia “AWOL” in her handling of the La Salle matter. She and two other leaders have lost their jobs, and the Republicans could not say whether more heads should roll. And Republicans are concerned about Deputy Gov. Sol Flores’ – and, by extension, Gov. JB Pritzker’s – stewardship here.
An investigation into the Quincy deaths found, among other things, Rauner’s legislative director asked if somehow the Legionnaires’ outbreak could be blamed on now-U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former state veterans’ affairs director.
Back to Tuesday’s news conference: “It’s two different diseases. You have Legionnaires’, and you have COVID. It’s apples and oranges. You can’t compare the two,” said State Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona). “Responses, maybe. But I think the response before to Legionnaires’ was quicker. They have more knowledge about it. COVID we’re still learning about. We’ll be learning about COVID for two, three, four years, or more. The Legionnaires’ was fixed. That was something that was — water. They got rid of it pretty quickly.”
Jacobs does have medical training. He’s an optometrist.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
