Illinois lawmakers say the state’s newest gun control law could stop a mentally ill or violent person from going on a shooting rampage. 

Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.

Illinois is ramping up efforts to place children under its care in other states to prevent them from having to stay in mental institutions longer than necessary, but some providers in other states won’t take the kids because of Illinois’ poor record of payment.

Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.

Continues administration’s commitment to honoring heroes

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner today 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.”

Rauner signed Senate Bill 3128, allowing the state to use the design-build delivery method to renovate, rehabilitate and rebuild the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy. This method will eliminate redundant steps in the traditional state construction process, shave months off the overall project time and save taxpayer dollars.

“More than 360 veterans call the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy home and we’re excited about moving forward with this project,” said Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Acting Director Stephen Curda. “This home is a staple in the community and we hope that never changes. We are all proud of this home and just last week, we gave Quincy residents an opportunity to learn more about the new home development process and provide ideas on what it could look like.”

Rauner also signed House Bill 5683, which makes the recently purchased Sycamore nursing facility an official part of the Illinois Veterans’ Home at Quincy. Renovations are already underway on the Sycamore unit and are expected to be complete by the end of the year. Securing this unit will ensure continuity of care and temporary housing for veterans while construction on the new facility at the existing campus is ongoing.  

“We continue to move quickly on a number of initiatives to serve our veterans,” said Mike Hoffman, senior adviser to the governor. “This includes the renovation of the Sycamore building, ongoing water management projects, and development of a new master plan for the Quincy campus.”

State legislators applauded today’s actions.

“Securing the design-build contract is one of the final steps to kick-start the Quincy Veterans’ Home $52 million capital development plan,” said Sen. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy. “Over the next five years, the campus will undergo a major rehabilitation to update the care facilities and residence to ensure it is up to code and safe for all of our veteran residents and their families. I’m glad to see the governor taking such swift action to begin construction on one of Quincy’s most important landmarks.”

“The heroes who live at the Quincy Veterans’ Home deserve the very best care that can be provided, and today we took a major step in ensuring that will happen,” said Rep. Randy Frese, R-Quincy. “Our veterans and the entire Quincy community are thankful and are looking forward to a remodeled and revitalized Quincy Veterans’ Home.”

“The acquisition of the (Sycamore) transitional facility is an important step toward making sure our veterans receive the best care possible,” said Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo. “I commend not only Gov. Rauner, but the bipartisan working group that identified this as a solution to keeping our veterans in Quincy at a site they call home.”

“This is part of a multi-pronged effort to provide top notch facilities for our state’s veterans in Quincy,” said Rep. Mike McAuliffe, R-Chicago. “It will guarantee that the veterans that are moved to Sycamore during ongoing renovations to Quincy are still seeing the same familiar, caring faces.”