Lee County officials, U.S. Rep. LaHood discuss issues facing the county

DIXON – Lee County officials met with U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Illinois, on Tuesday to discuss issues affecting the area and potential support for federal resources in the community.

“There wasn’t any part of the county that we didn’t discuss,” Lee County Board Chairman Bob Olson said of LaHood’s visit. “He was very knowledgeable and concerned. I think he’s going to be a good partner for Lee County in the future and reach out and see what resources he has available to us.”

Present at the meeting were LaHood, Olson, County Administrator Jeremy Englund, Finance Committee Chairman Jim Schielein, Facilities/Maintenance Committee Chairman Tom Wilson, County Board Vice Chairman Tom Kitson, county engineer David Anderson and State’s Attorney Charles Boonstra.

Olson said he was impressed with how in tune LaHood is with Lee County.

Topics of discussion included agriculture, tourism, transportation, upkeep of 220 miles of county roads, economic development, housing, industry and more, Olson said.

The congressman asked many questions, including how the SAFE-T Act is affecting the Lee County Jail, Olson said.

“We discussed [how] our normal run of average inmates per day was 50, and we’re down to 25,” he said. “There’s some good parts of the SAFE-T Act, but we’re estimating it’s going to cost the county $500,000 a year.”

In Lee County south of Rochelle, there’s an industrial part with lots going on, all of which LaHood was aware of and had ideas about, Olson said.

One of the biggest issues Lee County faces is housing, Olson said, adding that LaHood talked about bipartisan legislation he has introduced called the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023.

According to Congress.gov, the bill had 217 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives as of March 1. An identical bill in the U.S. Senate had 29 co-sponsors.

The bill would support the financing of almost 2 million new affordable homes by increasing the number of tax credits allocated to each state, increasing the number of affordable housing projects that can be built using private activity bonds, and improving the housing credit program to better serve at-risk and underserved communities, according to an Aug. 28, 2023, news release from LaHood.

Broadband and renewable energy were other topics discussed in depth, Englund said. Officials addressed the estimated 2 gigawatts worth of solar projects approved by Lee County for which construction has yet to start, he said.

The delay is because interconnection agreements, which are required by the county before construction begins, are not in place.

“The congressman is going to try to assist the region and the county with that so we can get that moving,” Englund said.