News Clips

“We are once again witnessing a process that’s unlikely to see much in terms of true community engagement,” Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois, skeptically told lawmakers at a public hearing last week.

All of the major do-gooder groups — the Better Government Association, Reform for Illinois, CHANGE Illinois and Common Cause — panned the legislation as inadequate.

“I’ve been trying to stress throughout this process that Illinois should be a beacon in this process. We’re a national leader in voting rights,” said Jay Young of Common Cause Illinois.

Illinois could lose up to two congressional seats after 2020, going from 18 to 16. Billions of dollars in federal funding are given out based on population for healthcare, education and other services.

Although the official count does not start for another year, the federal government and state and local governments are ramping up their efforts to make the next census as accurate as possible. Activists, lawmakers and community leaders around the state, meanwhile, are fighting to address all the factors that might contribute to an undercount.