The Latest
Faced with 19,000 dead, care homes seek shield from lawsuits
NEW YORK — Faced with 19,000 coronavirus deaths and counting, the nation’s nursing homes are pushing back against a potential flood of lawsuits with a sweeping lobbying effort to get states to grant them emergency protection from claims of inadequate care.
At least 15 states — including Illinois — have enacted laws or governors’ orders that explicitly or apparently provide nursing homes and long-term care facilities some protection from lawsuits arising from the crisis. And in the case of New York, which leads the nation in deaths in such facilities, a lobbying group wrote the first draft of a measure that apparently makes it the only state with specific protection from both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution.
Now the industry is forging ahead with a campaign to get other states on board with a simple argument: This was an unprecedented crisis and nursing homes should not be liable for events beyond their control, such as shortages of protective equipment and testing, shifting directives from authorities, and sicknesses that have decimated staffs.
“As our care providers make these difficult decisions, they need to know they will not be prosecuted or persecuted,” read a letter sent this month from several major hospital and nursing home groups to their next big goal, California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has yet to make a decision. Other states in their sights include Florida, Pennsylvania and Missouri.
Read the full report here.
News
9:42 a.m. Local artists to takeover Mayor Lightfoot’s Instagram each Sunday in May
Mayor Lori Lightfoot will once again host live performances by local artists on her Instagram in an attempt to help raise awareness and support of the Art for Illinois Relief Fund.
The performances, which will take place each Sunday in May, will feature a variety of genres. This Sunday, Lightfoot’s Instagram will broadcast performances by Luciano Antonio (10am), Opal Staples (Noon) and DJ Ayana Contreras (5-7pm).
All donations made Sunday to the Art for Illinois Relief Fund, which benefits artists and cultural organizations who have been financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic, will be matched by an anonymous donor.
As of Sunday morning, the fund has raised more than $5 million. That money goes directly to artists and arts organizations through the grantmaking partners 3Arts and Arts Work Fund.
For details, visit ArtsForIllinois.org.
— Madeline Kenney
8:45 a.m. Chicago area companies getting COVID-19 loans include railcar maker that paid CEO $2.1M
Faced with the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic, quickly rolled out the Paycheck Protection Program, aiming to keep workers on the payroll at small businesses as business dwindled because of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Among the Chicago-area companies to benefit, records show, were:
- A railcar manufacturer — which secured the maximum $10 million — that closed a factory in Virginia last year and opened a new one in Mexico while paying its CEO $2.1 million in total compensation.
- A clean-energy company in Cicero that told shareholders when it announced its $9.5 million loan that COVID-19 hadn’t harmed its business.
- Two companies that employ thousands of workers — well over the program’s usual 500-employee limit, though businesses also can qualify based on net worth or net income.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this past week that the rules that had allowed publicly traded corporations and other big companies to quickly deplete the initial $349 billion pot — shutting out many mom-and-pop operations — needed tightening. He warned publicly held companies that got more than $2 million through the coronavirus stimulus program that they would be audited. And he has asked large enterprises to voluntarily give back the money or possiblly face criminal charges if found to have cheated.
The U.S. Small Business Administration, which is overseeing the program, requires that “borrowers still must certify in good faith that their PPP loan request is necessary,” taking into account access to cash and credit. “For example, it is unlikely that a public company with substantial market value and access to capital markets will be able to make the required certification in good faith,” the Trump administration said April 23.
The SBA won’t disclose who got the bailout money. But some large national franchises have said they’ll give back the money they got after reports disclosed that. Among them: Potbelly, the Chicago-based sandwich giant.
Read the full Watchdogs report from Tim Novak and Lauren Fitzpatrick here.
7:23 a.m. Warren Buffett confident in future despite coronavirus uncertainty
OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett doesn’t know how the economy will recover from the coronavirus outbreak shutdown, but he remains optimistic in the long-term future of the United States.
Buffett said Saturday at Berkshire Hathaway’s online annual meeting that there’s no way to predict the economic future right now because the possibilities are still too varied. Berkshire’s meeting was held without any of the roughly 40,000 shareholders who typically attend.
“We do not know exactly what happens when you voluntarily shut down a substantial portion of your society,” Buffett said because it has never been done. He said it may take several years to understand all the economic implications of the coronavirus outbreak, but it hasn’t changed his long-term view because the country has endured wars and depressions before.
“I remain convinced … that nothing can basically stop America,” Buffett said.
New cases
- Health officials announced another 105 people died of complications from the new coronavirus since Friday across Illinois, raising the state’s pandemic death toll to 2,559. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike also said Saturday that 2,450 more people have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the state’s case total to 58,505.
- A quick rise in the number of coronavirus cases among inmates held in Chicago’s downtown federal jail continued Friday, with the Bureau of Prisons reporting 74 inmates had tested positive, up from 48 on Thursday.
- Chicago police announced five more cases of COVID-19 Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the department to 441.
Analysis & Commentary
7:30 a.m. Warning for Illinois GOP: Suburban voters give Pritzker high marks on handling COVID-19
A recent poll shows Illinoisans strongly approve of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois and an even higher number supports his stay-at-home order.
The We Ask America/Capitol Fax poll of 800 registered voters taken April 23-24 found that 71% approve of Pritzker’s handling of the state’s response to the outbreak, while just 23% disapprove.
A whopping 77% support the stay-at-home order, while only 18% oppose it and 4% don’t know. And 59% say they strongly support the order, while just 8% strongly oppose it.
Meanwhile, the state is split on President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic. While 48% support his response, 49% disapprove; 3% percent didn’t know.
A strong plurality of 48% say they worry that states might lift their stay-at-home orders too soon, while 29% say they worry states might be too slow; 23% don’t know.
The results included really bad news for suburban Republicans, who already appeared headed for yet another harsh November before COVID-19.
