Congressman Darin LaHood, born and raised in Peoria, serves the constituents of the 18th District of Illinois. Sworn into the US House of Representatives on September 17, 2015, LaHood quickly transitioned into office after his special election win on September 10. He won re-election to serve his third full-term in Congress on November 3, 2020, defeating his opponent with 70-percent of the vote.
The 18th District spans 19 counties across central and west-central Illinois, ranging from McLean County (Bloomington-Normal) to Adams County (Quincy). LaHood serves close to 710,000 constituents.
Manufacturing is critical to job growth, to economic mobility and prosperity for families, and to the vitality of our state and nation’s economy as a whole. Manufacturing in Illinois accounts for 14.05 percent of the total output of the state, and employs almost 10% of our workforce. Manufacturing goods exports reached $61.64 billion in 2014.
Each manufacturing job creates 3 more jobs in other sectors. 26.90 percent of manufacturing employment stemmed from exports in 2011. Small businesses comprised 90.00 percent of all exporters in Illinois.
In order to have a competitive manufacturing industry in America, government must create the terrain for the industry to thrive. Illinois must reform our workers compensation system, and I look forward to working with state legislators to do that. We need tax reform to encourage manufacturers to build domestically. There must be workforce development to fill the skill gap in order to ensure that individuals are trained to fill open manufacturing jobs. In addition, there should be a reduction in burdensome regulations that make it difficult for small businesses to survive.