Pritzker calls on Census Bureau to review undercounted 2020 Census da…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – Governor J.B. Pritzker is calling on the U.S. Census Bureau to review the state’s 2020 Census count.

The governor sent two letters to the agency. One asks the Census Bureau to reevalute and to make adjustments to the state’s total population count which the agency says was undercounted about two percent.

“Because of an inaccurate census count, the state of Illinois received inadequate federal funding for Medicare, affordable housing, homeland security, and a number of other essential programs,” Alex Gough, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement to WCIA.

The second letter asks the Census Bureau to review the count in group quarters – places like university housing, correctional facilities and nursing homes.

During the pandemic, Jon Kindseth, Decatur’s deputy city manager, said access to those facilities during the 2020 Census count was “off limits,” raising concerns for accurately counting the number of…