Rauner signs laws to speed up Quincy vets' home construction

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed into law measures aimed at replacing troublesome housing units at the Quincy veterans' home.

The Republican took action Tuesday to speed up the process for rebuilding dormitories and replacing plumbing that breed bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease. It allows the state to combine the processes for designing and building with one firm instead of seeking bids separately.

Legionnaires' is a pneumonia-like malady caused by inhaling infected water vapor and has contributed to the deaths of 13 residents since 2015.

Michael Hoffman is Rauner's senior adviser on the Quincy response. He says engineering work on new plumbing will be done this summer and a master construction plan done by year's end.

Rauner also signed legislation that adds a nearby former nursing part of the Quincy campus.