Editorial: Fill out 2020 census before it's too late

It's mid-August. Have you filled out the 2020 census yet?

As of Monday, 68.2% of Illinoisans had already done so, but that means more than 30 percent have not. If you are in that latter group, now's the time to be counted - and help the community get the resources it needs.

You have seven weeks left to do your part. Though the census deadline was initially extended to Oct. 31 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, earlier this month the cutoff was abruptly moved up to Sept. 30 - a change that has generated concerns of an undercount, especially among minority communities.

The census is a vital, constitutionally mandated, once-a-decade undertaking that requires everyone in the U.S. to be counted. The information is confidential and not to be shared with anyone, including government agencies.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the data collected will help determine the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funds each year.

Those funds are used for key local services, including hospitals, fire departments and emergency response. Census numbers also determine congressional representation for our state and others, and they will be used to draw state legislative and school district lines.

As we have pointed out before, not being counted has serious repercussions. The Kane County Board, for example, learned at one point that 19% of the county's population was not included in 2010 census data - a potential loss of $176 million per year.

Census workers are now going door-to-door to collect information from people who have not yet responded, and you can provide your data that way. All census workers will have government ID badges and masks.

You can also fill out the census via mail, online at 2020census.gov or by phone at (844) 330-2020.

It's easy. It's painless.

And it's incredibly important.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in an appearance covered by Capitol News Illinois, spelled out the financial impact of ignoring the census: A 1 percent undercount could cost the state of Illinois $195 million per year in federal funding for the next decade.

Based on 2010 census data, Illinois gets $34 billion in federal funds each year, he said.

The governor called filling out the census "an act of civic engagement." We wholeheartedly agree.

If you've filled out the census, great. If not, please don't put it off any longer.