Rauner vetoes larger damages for Legionnaire's victims

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed legislation that would have boosted the maximum damage award allowed survivors of veterans who died of Legionnaire's disease at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy.

The legislation would have increased from $100,000 to $2 million the maximum damage award survivors of veterans could seek from the state. The bill passed with bipartisan, support in the General Assembly.

Rauner rewrote the measure to impose "a more reasonable and justifiable $300,000" limit on tort awards.

Legionnaires' disease has claimed the lives of 13 veterans home residents since 2015. At least a dozen lawsuits have been filed since the initial outbreak, claiming negligence by the state.

Democratic Sen. Tom Cullerton of Villa Park, called Rauner's veto "absolutely disgusting" and said lawmakers would work to override it.