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90_HJ0047eng HJ0047 Engrossed LRB9009377PTmb 1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 47 2 WHEREAS, The State of Illinois wishes to address the 3 increasing needs of the aging and disabled who are members of 4 the Illinois veterans community and to remedy the dire 5 shortage of beds at State Veterans Homes; and 6 WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans' Affairs reported 7 that the State has an immediate need for 330 additional 8 nursing care beds for State Veterans Homes, that increasing 9 capacity by 600 beds would serve only 12% of wartime veterans 10 who need skilled care, and that increasing the capacity of 11 the Illinois Veterans Home at LaSalle by 80 beds and the 12 Illinois Veterans Home at Anna by 80 beds would permit the 13 Veterans Homes to properly serve hundreds of veterans 14 requiring nursing care; and 15 WHEREAS, The State of Illinois pays only an estimated 39% 16 of the care costs at State Veterans Homes while paying almost 17 47% of the care costs for Medicaid recipients at other 18 nursing homes, and increasing veterans home capacity would be 19 cost effective for the State subsidy of long term care; and 20 WHEREAS, Ninety percent of the Illinois veterans who are 21 eligible for care by a State veterans home reside within 100 22 miles of the Illinois Veterans Home at LaSalle; the waiting 23 list for a bed at the LaSalle Veterans Home contains the 24 names of more than 100 eligible veterans; and the lengthy 25 list requires those veterans to wait more than one year to 26 gain their desired admission; and 27 WHEREAS, The Illinois Veterans Home at Anna requires 28 additional beds to serve the ever increasing population of 29 State veterans in southern Illinois who are eligible for 30 medical care by the Veterans Home; and 31 WHEREAS, If the General Assembly provides the necessary HJ0047 Engrossed -2- LRB9009377PTmb 1 funds to increase the capacity of the LaSalle Veterans Home 2 and the Anna Veterans Home, then the State would be eligible 3 for federal reimbursement of up to 65% of the construction 4 costs through federal grants and the efforts of the Illinois 5 congressional delegation; therefore, be it 6 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 7 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE 8 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, That all concerned make every 9 effort to obtain State and federal funds so that the 10 Department of Veterans' Affairs may increase by at least 80 11 beds each the capacities of the Illinois Veterans Homes at 12 LaSalle and Anna to better serve the north central and 13 southern regions of Illinois and to accommodate the 14 increasing number of Illinois veterans eligible for care; and 15 be it further 16 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be 17 delivered to the Illinois congressional delegation, the 18 Governor, the Department of Veterans' Affairs, and the 19 Illinois Veterans Homes at LaSalle and Anna.