Raja Krishnamoorthi

05/20/2022 | Press release | Archived content

Congressman Krishnamoorthi Demands Answers From Commerce Department On Undercounting Of Illinois In 2020 Census

WASHINGTON - In a letter following Thursday's U.S. Census Bureau announcement that Illinois' population had been undercounted by 1.97 percent, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi wrote to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, whose department includes the Census Bureau, for answers as to how the errors occurred and what will be the impact on Illinois and the federal aid it receives. In actuality, Illinois state's population grew by more than a quarter of a million people to more than 13 million for the first time. Today's letter follows in the footsteps of the Congressman's letter to the Census Bureau in January of this year regarding similar issues with the agency repeatedly undercounting the population of the state.

The text of Congressman Krishnamoorthi's letter follows below and is viewable here.

May 20, 2022

Gina Raimondo

Secretary of Commerce

U.S. Department of Commerce

1401 Constitution Ave NW

Washington, DC 20230

Dear Secretary Raimondo:

I'm writing with regard to yesterday's release of the U.S. Census Bureau's release of the 2020 Census estimated undercount and overcount rates by state and the District of Columbia from the Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) which found that 14 states are estimated to have had an undercount or overcount, including my state of Illinois which was undercounted by 1.97 percent.This follows my January 13th, 2022 letter to Census Bureau Director Santos, in which I expressed similar concerns about the bureau's undercounting and methodological issues in response previous undercounting issues in Illinois.

In light of this major revelation and the implications for Illinois and other states having been significantly undercounted, please provide answers to the following questions:

  1. What is the mechanism and timeline by which the apportionment of federal resources will reflect this new data?
  2. What additional data is available with regard to the undercounting of Illinois?
  3. While the report discusses general factors for undercounts across the country, what specific factors contributed to the undercount in Illinois?

Sincerely,

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Member Of Congress