New Census Office tasked with ensuring an accurate count in all communities across Illinois
information provided by the Office of the Governor
CHICAGO, Ill. (June 24, 2019) — “In this year’s budget, we committed $29 million to prepare and execute the census in Illinois. That’s by far the largest per-person investment made in any state in the nation,” said Gov. JB Pritzker on June 20, signing an executive order cementing the state’s comprehensive effort to ensure an accurate count in all communities across Illinois.
The $29 million will be used for outreach and education, with grants to community organizations across the state that are engaged in census work, “particularly in our hard-to-count communities,” said Pritzker.
Recognizing that a Census undercount could threaten Illinois’ representation in Congress and its share of federal funding, Executive Order 19-10 establishes a new Census Office within the Illinois Department of Human Services and a bipartisan, bicameral Census Advisory Panel to guide its work.
The Census Office will administer grant funding and conduct outreach and education to ensure an accurate and complete count. Led by two co-coordinators, the office will use the full force of all state agencies and departments to complete its work. The Department of Human Services will file public reports online on a monthly basis to detail its budget, expenditures and distributions of funds to organizations throughout Illinois.
The Census Advisory Panel is made up of 12 members appointed by the governor and legislative leaders and will focus its efforts on “hard to count” communities. Specifically, it will advise the Census Office on drafting and ensuring a wide distribution of the Notice of Funding Opportunity, coordinating with the Illinois Complete Count Commission and ensuring all communities receive communications during the 2020 Census.
Members of the Census Advisory Panel include:
• Deborah Bennet, Program Manager at Polk Bros. Foundation
• Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez
• Former Rep. Mike Fortner
• Sen. Kimberly Lightford
• Rep. Theresa Mah
• Sen. Iris Martinez
• Sen. Andy Manar
• Sen. Dan McConchie
• Maria Pesqueira, President of Healthy Communities Foundation
• Rep. Ryan Spain
• Rep. Andre Thapedi
• Sen. Jil Tracy
