Congressman Darin LaHood made a pit stop in Jacksonville Friday during his week-long tour of the 18th District.
LaHood spoke with WLDS-WEAI News this morning about his busy week, which already includes appearances in Peoria, Springfield and Quincy.
LaHood will visit Passavant Area Hospital, Illinois College and the Reynolds Plant throughout the day, all things he has yet to do as the 18th District Representative.
“Health care, when talking to the hospital executives, is a big topic when we think about the further implementation of Obama Care. At Illinois College, we will talk about higher education. Specifically, we will talk about loans and grants and what we do about affordable college education for small colleges. At the tour of Reynolds, we are seeing what we need to do to help companies like Reynolds, who create more jobs and economic opportunity. That will give me a good opportunity to visit with them a little bit,” notes LaHood.
LaHood also had lunch with several members of the Jacksonville Rotary Club, providing an update on what is happening in Washington D.C.
“Talk a little bit about what I see on the horizon for the rest of the year here. The big focus is on the economy and how we get the economy going again to create more jobs in the private sector,” says LaHood.
An update on the 18th District heroin and opioid forum was also provided by LaHood. The Congressman says prosecutors, doctors, first responders and law enforcement met this week to discuss ways to battle the drug issue growing around the country.
Jacksonville Police Chief Tony Grootens attended the meeting in Springfield on Wednesday.
A bill to allocate more resources towards this problem will be brought up in Washington D.C. next week.