Pritzker signs order to jumpstart 2020 census outreach, ensure accurate count

Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined a diverse coalition of lawmakers and advocates in Chicago on Thursday as he signed an executive order he said is aimed at ensuring an accurate count in the 2020 U.S. census.

"The stakes could not be higher, and, to be frank, we are behind in Illinois," Pritzker said, noting that Illinois could lose up to two congressional seats if residents are undercounted.

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said the stakes include billions of dollars in federal funding, as Illinois could lose $120 million annually for each 1 percent of the population that is undercounted.

Stratton said nearly 42 percent of the state's black population, 33 percent of the Latino population and 20 percent of children under age 5 live in communities classified as hard to count.

Executive Order 19-10 creates a census office as part of the Illinois Department of Human Services to coordinate the state's census turnout efforts and allows the governor to appoint two "census co-coordinators" to direct the census office.

It also creates a census advisory panel of 12 people appointed by the governor and legislative leaders of each party.

Pritzker said the order, combined with a $29 million state appropriation for census outreach that was included in the 2020 operating budget, would help Illinois come closer to a "complete count."

Pritzker and the coalition of advocates at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago said one of the keys to ensuring a correct count would be building trust in minority communities.

Pritzker took aim at President Donald Trump's administration and said a citizenship question, which could appear on the 2020 census pending a decision by U.S. courts, is a tactic to "force an undercount."

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said he placed the question on the census at the request of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to help enforce the Voting Rights Act.

"We need to make sure that we are having everyone, all residents of the state of Illinois and in this country, counted no matter of their immigration status," said state Sen. Omar Aquino of Chicago.

"If you live in this state, you should be counted."

Pritzker said advocates and coalition members will work "with people in the communities to make sure that people feel safe when they are filling out this questionnaire."

That effort would include going door to door and having one-on-one meetings, the governor said.

Funds from the census appropriation will go toward outreach and education, with grant funding to community organizations that are engaged in census advocacy, particularly in hard-to-count communities.

The DHS will file public reports online monthly to detail its budget, expenditures and distributions of funds.

Anita Banerji, leader of the Democracy Initiative of the nonprofit organization Forefront, which has focused on census outreach, said the appropriation and executive order will aid the ongoing process of ensuring a correct count.

"Illinois is well positioned to conduct the most fair and accurate census count in our history," she said.