SJ0055 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SJ0055 LRB100 20913 MST 36442 r

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In 2011, the General Assembly enacted the Illinois Voting Rights Act to require legislative and representative districts drawn after each decennial redistricting plan pursuant to Article IV, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution to create crossover districts, coalition districts, or influence districts so long drawing these districts would not conflict the United States Constitution, any federal law regarding redistricting Legislative Districts or Representative Districts, including but not limited to the federal Voting Rights Act, or the Illinois Constitution; and

WHEREAS, The purpose of the Illinois Voting Rights Act, as explained by the federal court decision upholding it, is to "prevent what is commonly known as the 'facturering' of minority voting districts" and protect the voting rights of racial and language minorities; and

WHEREAS, Illinois has a significant interest in ensuring that the United States Census Bureau conducts its 2020 decennial census in a manner to fully and accurately count "the whole number of persons in each State" in order to ensure Illinois' fair representation in Congress, its influence in the Electoral College, its fair share of federal funds based on Census data, and its compliance with the Illinois Voting Rights Act's requirement to draw state legislative and representative districts in a manner that protects the voting rights of racial and language minorities; and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of Justice has requested that the United States Census Bureau reinstate a question on citizenship to the 2020 census, claiming that the data is critical to the Department's enforcement of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the important protections it provides against racial discrimination in voting; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Justice states it needs a reliable calculation of the citizen voting age population in localities where voting rights are alleged or suspected; and

WHEREAS, Experts agree that since the same question is included in the American Community Survey it is adequate to fulfill the Department of Justice's stated purpose of enforcing the Voting Rights Act; and

WHEREAS, The Attorneys General of 17 states, including Illinois, and the District of Columbia, and the Governor of Colorado recently sent a joint letter opposing the Department of Justice's request to the Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau; and

WHEREAS, The Attorneys General's joint letter correctly explains how adding a citizenship question would significantly depress participation in the 2020 decennial census and cause a population undercount that would disproportionately harm states and cities with large immigrant communities; and

WHEREAS, The Attorney General's joint letter further explains how adding a citizenship question would frustrate the Census Bureau's obligation under the U.S. Constitution to determine "the whole number of persons in each state", threaten the fair representation of their states in Congress, dilute the influence of their states in the Electoral College, and deprive their states of their fair share of hundreds of billions dollars in federal funds allocated based upon Census data; and

WHEREAS, The Attorney General's joint letter rightly points out that the Census Bureau itself has previously explained that "any effort to ascertain citizenship" in the decennial Census "will inevitably jeopardize the overall accuracy of the population count"; and

WHEREAS, Four former Directors of the Census Bureau - appointed by Presidents of both political parties - explained in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court less than three years ago that "a one-by-one citizenship inquiry would invariably lead to a lower response rate to the Census in general" and would "seriously frustrate the Census Bureau's ability to conduct the only count the Constitution expressly requires"; and

WHEREAS, It is abundantly clear that reinstating a citizenship question will lead to comprehensive inaccuracies, including how congressional, state, and local legislative districts are drawn and how government funds are distributed; and

WHEREAS, U.S. senators have asked the current presidential administration to reject the request since it could depress or hinder census turnout due to fear that the government could use the information against the participants and since the question has not been asked by the Census Bureau since 1950; and

WHEREAS, Reinstating this question will have the unintended effect of increasing the Census Bureau's costs and budget to conduct the census, as the Bureau must send out enumerators to interview the occupants of any address that did not respond; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we strongly urge the Secretary of Commerce to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's request to include the citizenship question in the 2020 census; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Honorable Wilbur Ross, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and each member of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.