It’s a rotten deal when lawmakers take campaign cash, then give tax breaks to nursing home group

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon backs legislation that would provide tens of millions of dollars in property tax breaks for nursing homes in Cook County after accepting nearly $2 million in campaign contributions from their industry trade group, the Sun-Times reported Oct. 27. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

Isn’t it a shame that you can make millions in campaign contributions to the Illinois state Senate president and the Illinois speaker of the House and get your status changed from commercial property tax to a residential property tax and let the citizens of Illinois get stuck with $50 million to pay (“Nursing home industry gives big to Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, who goes to bat for it on bid for tax breaks” — Oct. 27)?

Those two and others have gotten campaign contributions from the Health Care Council, which represents nursing homes. Good thing Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed it Aug. 11, but now the Health Care Council wants the House and Senate to override the governor’s veto. The governor wrote that this is a “property tax break” that “passes the cost on to suburban Cook County homeowners and small businesses with the greatest impact felt in the south suburbs.”