Urban League Predicts Illinois Losing $1.2 Billion In Federal Aid Revenue From Census Citizenship Qu

Illinois ranks sixth among the 50 states in the “hard to count” population, with 16% of state residents reluctant to fill out and return census forms. A recent Chicago Urban League report predicts that the state will lose one Congressional seat and $122 million per year in Medicaid, SNAP and highway matching revenue from the federal government should inclusion of a citizenship question on the census form result in a higher than expected undercount. The census required by the United States Constitution every ten years requires the federal government to count “persons” and allocate seats in the House and federal financial aid to states based on the number of “persons” rather than the number of citizens.

Court cases are already pending in an effort to block the citizenship question the Trump administration proposes adding to the 2020 census form.