Kudos to Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, originally from Peoria and now representing
the Chicago suburbs, in his fight to demand the U.S. Census bureau do a deep dive into its methodologies for counting U.S. citizens.
In what ended up being a count swing of nearly 500,000 citizens, in 2020, the Census bureau first estimated Illinois had a population loss of 240,000, or a 2 percent decrease, from 2010 to 2020. After actual numbers from the results of the count were considered in 2021, that loss decreased to 18,000; and a further review by the Census Bureau using a dual system approach in 2022 showed the state had actually GROWN by 250,000.
The agency’s 2020 census estimate misinformed about Illinois’ population while potentially costing the state and its citizens billions of dollars in federal assistance for nearly 100 federal programs including Medicare and Medicaid; highway planning and construction; Pell grants; and water and sewer infrastructure. It could have also made a difference in the number of Congressional seats the state has.
In a state beleaguered with narratives about populations loss, the facts prove otherwise.
Thanks for Elevating Illinois Congressman Krishnamoorthi.
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