Illinois Senate President Don Harmon stalling nursing home retaliation bill, advocates claim

Mary Matthews and her former roommate at a Rogers Park nursing home once witnessed staffers tie another patient to a chair with a bed sheet around his waist, something “you can't even do to prisoners,” Matthews says.

Shortly after complaining about the disturbing scene, Matthews’ roommate was forced out of the facility, the result of a separate, bogus complaint she says managers coerced another resident into filing.

But other nursing home residents have faced even worse repercussions after speaking up about problems, Matthews says, from physical harm to withholding food and medicine — so many feel it’s better to keep quiet.

“They're not likely to get any kind of relief from it, and they're very likely to get retaliation from it,” said Matthews, who now lives on her own in West Ridge.

She and other advocates for nursing home residents claim such retaliation, though illegal, runs rampant in long-term care facilities across the state. That’s why they’re urging state senators to advance legislation that aims to deter it by giving residents more leverage to file lawsuits against facility owners.

A bill filed in Springfield almost a year ago by West Side state Sen. Lakesia Collins, D-Chicago, would amend the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act to allow residents to sue facility owners over claims of retaliation for at least two months’ rent and attorney fees, plus statutory damages.

Seventeen more senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, but advocates worry Illinois Senate President Don Harmon could let the legislative clock expire on it under pressure from a nursing home industry trade group that opposes the bill — and that has made massive financial contributions to Harmon’s political operation.

The Health Care Council of Illinois argues laws on the books are sufficient, and that Senate Bill 3559 would prompt a flurry of meritless lawsuits and new legal costs that would end up harming “the very individuals it seeks to protect.”

The bill will die if it’s not passed by the end of the veto session Jan. 7, before a new General Assembly is inaugurated.

“At some point, our legislators are going to stop protecting a profit-making business that's violating the laws and refusing to actually take care of people,” said Fran Tobin, coordinator of the Alliance for Community Services, a coalition of labor groups that advocate for seniors, low-income residents and people with disabilities.

Harmon, the Oak Park Democrat who can make or break legislation in the Senate, hasn’t weighed in on the bill.

“I have met with proponents of this measure several times,” Harmon said in a statement. “We’re still working on some sticking points and hope to come to an agreement that is suitable for everyone involved. This is a complex issue, and it’s always better to take the time necessary to produce a good bill.”

The Health Care Council of Illinois argues the state should focus on “expanding education and strengthening existing programs.”

“Protecting the health, safety, and well-being of nursing home residents and staff is the top priority for HCCI and its members. We are actively engaging with the sponsors of SB 3559, as we did during spring session, to ensure that the legislation fulfills its intended purpose without inadvertently causing harm to the very individuals it seeks to protect,” the council’s communications director, Lindsey Hess, said in a statement.

“It is crucial to highlight that existing laws already provide residents with strong retaliation protections,” Hess said, including “a robust and thorough complaint investigation program” through the Illinois Department of Public Health.

But nursing home residents and their advocates complain the state’s system comes up short. A report commissioned by the Alliance for Community Services and released last week documented 42 state investigations of abuse and retaliation claims that advocates say illustrate how widespread the problem is.

“We know it's illegal, but we also know it happens all the time, and there's no actual incentive for the people who make the money out of this system to actually make sure that the law is followed in their facilities,” Tobin said.

And without the possibility of larger claims, many lawyers are not willing to take on the cases of lower-income residents, proponents say.

“Giving more teeth to the law that's already in place is something that will help residents now and in the future,” said Lyndsay Sullivan, an Alliance board member who lives in a North Side care facility.

Tobin said she believes their bill is being held up by Harmon, who controls political committees that have received more than $2 million from the Health Care Council of Illinois’ political action committee since he was elected Senate president in 2020.

The council’s PAC has given millions of dollars over the years to politicians on both sides of the aisle, state election board records show.

It's given $301,000 this year to the Friends of Don Harmon for State Senate committee, plus an additional $35,000 to the Illinois Senate Democratic Fund, the campaign war chest Harmon uses to protect his party’s supermajority in the chamber.

Collins, the bill sponsor, has received two campaign contributions from the council this year totaling $1,250. She couldn’t be reached for comment.

Last year, Gov. JB Pritzker vetoed part of a bill backed by Harmon that would’ve provided tens of millions of dollars in property tax breaks for nursing homes in Cook County. The governor suggested legislators wouldn’t have approved it “had they been aware of this aspect of the bill.”

Harmon’s spokesman rejected that characterization at the time, saying “[l]egislative decisions are always made based on what is in the best interests of the public and to ensure all people and organizations are treated fairly under the law.”

Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Springfield Jan. 2.