CAPITOL NEWS DAILY The top stories of the day in state government coverage from Capitol News Illinois. | | | Last week, Capitol News Illinois partnered with Lee Enterprises and ProPublica for an investigative report on a culture of cruelty, abuse and neglect at a state-run home for developmentally disabled and mentally ill individuals. | |
On Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker was asked about the reporting and his response to the documentation of abuse. You can read our initial story here.
"The abuse and neglect that took place at Choate is awful," Pritzker said when asked by Brenden Moore of Lee Enterprises at an unrelated news conference Tuesday.
"And in fact, it's one of the reasons why we made sure that the State Police did their job in investigating, that we were transparent and providing all the information that was needed for them to do the investigation and to hold people accountable who deserve to be held accountable.
"Obviously we're very focused on making sure that that facility is doing what it needs to do to care for the people who live there. We're going to continue to upgrade and provide the services that people need and the personnel that are appropriate for that facility."
Pritzker was also asked about the response time of the Illinois Department of Human Services, which we detailed in a companion piece here.
"I can't speak to how quickly she acted," he said of IDHS director Grace Hou. "I will say that speaking up and speaking out when you see something that's wrong is exactly the right thing to do. Making sure that there's a responsive people on the other end and that, again, we have transparency, an investigation that takes place. That's the right thing to do. And that's what we're going to make sure happens."
He said the state wasn't considering closing the facility at this time, but he did not take the option off the table.
"But I have to tell you, obviously deeply concerning what people who work there did," he said. "And the question is, can we prevent that in the future? And if not, then obviously that's not a facility that should remain open. But the state has an obligation to the people that it serves at that facility right now."
Capitol News Illinois' Beth Hundsdorfer and her partner in the investigation, Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises, have a story on the governor's comments and other lawmaker reaction following last week's report.
Below, Jerry Nowicki has a story on electric vehicle incentives, which the governor announced at Tuesday's news conference before taking questions on Choate. | |
Gov. JB Pritzker called patient abuses at the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in rural Anna "awful" and "deeply concerning," and he said the future of the facility depends on correcting poor conditions.
Pritzker's comments at a news conference on Tuesday came on the heels of the reporting noted above which we published last week.
At least 26 employees over the past decade have been arrested on felony charges in relation to their work at the facility, and internal investigations have cited dozens of other employees for neglecting, exploiting or humiliating residents, lying to investigators, or failing to report allegations of mistreatment in a timely manner. In some cases, investigations have languished for years as accused employees have continued to receive their full pay while on administrative leave.
At least one advocacy organization called for the state to close Choate in the wake of the reports. Amie Lulinski, executive director of The Arc of Illinois, an advocacy organization for people with developmental disabilities, said the details of abuse and neglect are "appalling" and called on the state to move residents out of the facility and into smaller community-based living arrangements such as group homes.
Beth Hundsdorfer and Molly Parker have an update on their reporting.
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The state on Tuesday announced the award of the first electric vehicle manufacturing-targeted tax incentives made possible by a law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker last year.
The incentives come from the Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act, which passed nearly unanimously and became law in November, and will provide an estimated $2.2 million in value to T/CCI Manufacturing in Decatur.
The REV Act passed two months after the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which incentivizes EV adoption, driving Pritzker's vision to make Illinois "the best place in North America to drive and manufacture an electric vehicle."
T/CCI's Decatur plant currently manufactures compressors for gasoline-powered cars. The company plans to retool the Decatur facility to produce compressors for EVs with an estimated $20 million investment. Currently, T/CCI makes EV compressors, a part which cools batteries and powers car air conditioning systems, in China and India.
"Thanks to the REV Act, Illinois beat out international competition to bring this deal home," Pritzker said. "That means new jobs and jobs that would have gone overseas are staying right here."
T/CCI's transition will create 50 new jobs, while 103 existing jobs are expected to be retained.
Jerry Nowicki has more on that story and other plans for the T/CCI campus in Decatur.
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