Full Text of SJR0055 100th General Assembly
SJ0055 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, In 2011, the General Assembly enacted the Illinois | 3 | | Voting Rights Act to require legislative and representative | 4 | | districts drawn after each decennial redistricting plan | 5 | | pursuant to Article IV, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution | 6 | | to create crossover districts, coalition districts, or | 7 | | influence districts so long drawing these districts would not | 8 | | conflict the United States Constitution, any federal law | 9 | | regarding redistricting Legislative Districts or | 10 | | Representative Districts, including but not limited to the | 11 | | federal Voting Rights Act, or the Illinois Constitution; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The purpose of the Illinois Voting Rights Act, as | 13 | | explained by the federal court decision upholding it, is to | 14 | | "prevent what is commonly known as the 'facturering' of | 15 | | minority voting districts" and protect the voting rights of | 16 | | racial and language minorities; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has a significant interest in ensuring | 18 | | that the United States Census Bureau conducts its 2020 | 19 | | decennial census in a manner to fully and accurately count "the | 20 | | whole number of persons in each State" in order to ensure | 21 | | Illinois' fair representation in Congress, its influence in the | 22 | | Electoral College, its fair share of federal funds based on | 23 | | Census data, and its compliance with the Illinois Voting Rights |
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| 1 | | Act's requirement to draw state legislative and representative | 2 | | districts in a manner that protects the voting rights of racial | 3 | | and language minorities; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The United States Department of Justice has | 5 | | requested that the United States Census Bureau reinstate a | 6 | | question on citizenship to the 2020 census, claiming that the | 7 | | data is critical to the Department's enforcement of Section 2 | 8 | | of the Voting Rights Act and the important protections it | 9 | | provides against racial discrimination in voting; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Justice states it needs a | 11 | | reliable calculation of the citizen voting age population in | 12 | | localities where voting rights are alleged or suspected; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Experts agree that since the same question is | 14 | | included in the American Community Survey it is adequate to | 15 | | fulfill the Department of Justice's stated purpose of enforcing | 16 | | the Voting Rights Act; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The Attorneys General of 17 states, including | 18 | | Illinois, and the District of Columbia, and the Governor of | 19 | | Colorado recently sent a joint letter opposing the Department | 20 | | of Justice's request to the Secretary of the United States | 21 | | Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Attorneys General's joint letter correctly | 2 | | explains how adding a citizenship question would significantly | 3 | | depress participation in the 2020 decennial census and cause a | 4 | | population undercount that would disproportionately harm | 5 | | states and cities with large immigrant communities; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Attorney General's joint letter further | 7 | | explains how adding a citizenship question would frustrate the | 8 | | Census Bureau's obligation under the U.S. Constitution to | 9 | | determine "the whole number of persons in each state", threaten | 10 | | the fair representation of their states in Congress, dilute the | 11 | | influence of their states in the Electoral College, and deprive | 12 | | their states of their fair share of hundreds of billions | 13 | | dollars in federal funds allocated based upon Census data; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The Attorney General's joint letter rightly | 15 | | points out that the Census Bureau itself has previously | 16 | | explained that "any effort to ascertain citizenship" in the | 17 | | decennial Census "will inevitably jeopardize the overall | 18 | | accuracy of the population count"; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Four former Directors of the Census Bureau - | 20 | | appointed by Presidents of both political parties - explained | 21 | | in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court less than three | 22 | | years ago that "a one-by-one citizenship inquiry would | 23 | | invariably lead to a lower response rate to the Census in |
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| 1 | | general" and would "seriously frustrate the Census Bureau's | 2 | | ability to conduct the only count the Constitution expressly | 3 | | requires"; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, It is abundantly clear that reinstating a | 5 | | citizenship question will lead to comprehensive inaccuracies, | 6 | | including how congressional, state, and local legislative | 7 | | districts are drawn and how government funds are distributed; | 8 | | and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, U.S. senators have asked the current presidential | 10 | | administration to reject the request since it could depress or | 11 | | hinder census turnout due to fear that the government could use | 12 | | the information against the participants and since the question | 13 | | has not been asked by the Census Bureau since 1950; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Reinstating this question will have the | 15 | | unintended effect of increasing the Census Bureau's costs and | 16 | | budget to conduct the census, as the Bureau must send out | 17 | | enumerators to interview the occupants of any address that did | 18 | | not respond; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 20 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 21 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that we strongly urge the Secretary of | 22 | | Commerce to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's request to |
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| 1 | | include the citizenship question in the 2020 census; and be it | 2 | | further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 4 | | delivered to the Honorable Wilbur Ross, Secretary of the U.S. | 5 | | Department of Commerce, and each member of the Illinois | 6 | | Congressional Delegation.
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