[This article marks the seventh edition of the Young Forwardists’ "Watchdogs of Democracy" series, where we aim to educate the public and hold elected officials accountable by evaluating whether their actions align with the promises they made to their constituents]

As an experienced lawyer from Peoria, Darin LaHood (R-IL) represents a district that includes large parts of rural, western and central Illinois, but also parts of Peoria, the seventh largest city in the state. 

Darin LaHood is a House Representative from the Sixteenth District of Illinois. Over his five terms as a representative, Lahood has co-sponsored 1,004 bills, yet only sponsored 125 bills - meaning he has only introduced 125 bills. The distinction in sponsored vs. co-sponsored is significant, as it does not take much effort for a representative to place their name on a bill - they could essentially make a phone call or write a singular email - but introducing a bill requires time, research, and expertise/constituent advocacy for subsequent implementation. Furthermore, when evaluating these ideas, it is important to understand that in a relative lens, while representatives as a whole may fail to introduce many bills, it is the desire of the constituency to enact significant change. 

Representative LaHood has introduced a lot of bills. But how well does he measure up to the promises of his campaign?  

Economy & Jobs: A 

Related Bills: H.R. 45, H.R. 3238, H.R. 3582, H.R 5861

On the campaign, Lahood promised to remove barriers to job creation, through reducing government regulations, and making changes to the tax code. Furthermore, he supported allowing more laissez-faire economic policy (or less regulations) towards business owners, which in his words would “allow employees to prosper”. 

In Congress, LaHood fulfilled a lot of those promises. His proposed changes in the tax code for the IRS utilize tax credits - which essentially reduces an individual's tax amount - and tax exemptions to stimulate the economy, and support jobs. Specifically, tax credits for low-income housing, and tax exemptions for grants and scholarships in the federal income tax would subsidize low-income groups such as college graduates, and families in poverty (like the 8% that live in Lahood’s district, according to DataUSA). On the other side of the aisle, he reduced reporting requirements for small businesses, which would simplify the tax code and process.  

Healthcare: B

Related Bills: H.R. 4794, H.R. 5716, H.R. 1616, H.R. 786, H.R. 5013, 

While running for his fourth term, LaHood reiterated his message in healthcare: being Pro-Life. In his words, he called pro-abortion supporters “radical” and promised to fight back against them to protect the vulnerable. 

Yet, in congress, LaHood did not even mention abortion in his sponsored bills. Once again using the tax code, LaHood called for tax credits to expenses on dietary supplements, simplified the tax code both for spouses sharing healthcare costs, and medicare policies, while incentivizing medicare for families through alternate payment programs. 

So, all-in-all, Lahood definitely aimed to improve government policies surrounding his constituents to aid them financially, but he did so at the expense of his promises on the campaign. So, to better align with core campaign values, he should introduce more policies fighting abortion.

Agriculture: D

Related Bills: H.R. 3787

During his campaign, LaHood promised to support the agriculture that provided so many jobs and supported the constituents of his district economically. As the 9th largest district producer for corn and soybeans, LaHood pledged to fight for local farmers, and expand trade opportunities for his residents.

In Congress, though, LaHood’s efforts were underwhelming. In the past two congresses, LaHood

introduced a bill that would increase loan sizes for small farmers, which would make it easier for local farmers to not only get started but also sustain easier. 

However, one bill regarding a core campaign promise is lackluster, especially as LaHood has done so much for other issues in his campaign. Focusing on increasing those trade opportunities domestically and internationally, and subsidizing farmers directly given that they make up such a large part of his district with over 13,000 farms, according to the US Census.  

Grade on Issues: B

LaHood has some room for improvement in various issues promised on the campaign like Abortion and Agriculture, to better represent his constituents in the Sixteenth District - thus giving him a “B”. To do so, working on addressing all the specific action points he made on the campaign. For example, subsidies, where the federal government could allocate grants and funds to farmers, as well as doing more to support all of his promises through actual incentives instead of tax write offs would be more beneficial. This is because these write-offs could be more difficult to reach to his constituents (given the tax filing process is already so strenuous). With constituent advocacy from people like you, from calling his office to talk about legislation to advocating for various policies at events, LaHood can more adequately support the interests of constituents - in turn increasing transparency between representative and citizen.