Lake County Gazette

Illinois State Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) recently expressed his disappointment with unemployment figures that show Illinois ranked next to last in the United States only outperforming Nevada.

"We should be a leader in growing job opportunities for our residents,” the Republican stated in a Jan. 25 Facebook post.

Unemployment in Illinois stood at 4.7% in December 2022, just 1.2% better than the national rate of 3.5%, according to a WGNTV report.

“We have the resources, but our state's high taxes and bad public policies drive employers away,” McLaughlin wrote in his Facebook post.

According to The Center Square, Illinois had 303,217 unemployed people at the end of December 2022. The state only added 15 jobs from November to December.

“We have to be more competitive to get innovators and job creators to invest in Illinois,” McLaughlin stated.

McLaughlin was recently sworn in for another term as part of the 103rd General Assembly and took to Facebook Wednesday to share his committee assignments.

“We received our committee assignments for the 103rd General Assembly today, and I will be proudly representing the interests of all taxpayers in Illinois, especially those in the 52nd District,” McLaughlin wrote in his post.

McLaughlin was selected to serve on the Revenue and Finance, Cities and Villages, and Judiciary-Civil Government Administration committees, as well as the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, according to the post.

He has represented Illinois’ 52nd District since 2020, according to his campaign website. Before that, he served as the village president of Barrington Hills.