Grundy Reporter

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) is speaking out about the lapse in leadership that led to the COVID-related deaths of 36 veterans at the LaSalle Veterans Home.

"How many reports must land on Gov. Pritzker's desk before he takes the safety of our veterans seriously? It took the Pritzker Administration 11 days to arrive on-site in LaSalle, and it could still take the same number of days today. The Governor's lax approach toward improving the state's outbreak response time and care for our veterans is not the type of leadership he pledged as a candidate," Rezin said.

Rezin is sponsoring three bills related to how the state should respond at the time of outbreaks. Two of Rezin's bills address how Illinois prepares for and responds to outbreaks, while the third one strengthens the powers of the Inspector General when conducting state investigations. 

Senate Bill 3170 sets a timeline for the IDPH to visit a concerned site for inspections during an outbreak. 

Senate Bill 1471 requires all licensed facilities run by the state to conduct emergency preparedness drills.

Senate Bill 1445 grants subpoena powers to the Inspector General so that the office receives cooperation during state investigations.

Some of the mourning families of those affected in the LaSalle facility came together to file a total of 27 lawsuits against the State of Illinois, The Illinois Department of Veterans, and the facility itself, as ABC7Chicago reported. "It was the result of negligence. That part of it will never sink in," said Lara Lundquist-Schuler, daughter of a victim.