Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Chicago, IL – Bruce Rauner is guesstimating with no concrete plan to end the Legionnaires’ crisis at the Quincy Veterans’ Home. The wide range of estimates coming from his administration make it clear that Rauner has no idea how much it will cost to replace the water pipes at the facility, let alone the cost of an actual solution.

Here’s how much his administration has claimed a water system replacement would cost in the past few months alone:

• August 2016: $8 million according to a firm hired by the Rauner administration, BRiC Partnership, and a total of $17 million for additional proposals.

• December 2017: Over $500 million according to Rauner IDVA director’s estimate to WBEZ.

• January 2018: $25 million to $30 million according to Rauner IDVA director’s testimony to lawmakers.

• February 2018: $11 million according to an updated BRiC Partnership report, and a total of $24 million for additional proposals.

• March 2018: Rauner’s senior advisor tasked with ending the Quincy crisis said he had no cost estimate for a fix, but will come up with a plan by “sometime this fall.”

• April 2018: $16 million according to a new Rauner administration cost estimate sent to a special task force, and a total of $278 million for all of their proposals.

“Three years, 13 deaths, dozens sickened and Bruce Rauner is still grasping at straws instead of presenting any semblance of a concrete solution to end the Legionnaires’ crisis,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This is fatal mismanagement as a failed governor refuses to take charge and protect the lives of our state’s heroes.”

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