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Annual population estimates for each state are expected sometime
next month from the U.S. Census.
State Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, said the state-by-state
population battles shouldn’t matter as long as the United States
is growing. While the country has grown moderately, estimates
indicate Illinois has shrunk for nine consecutive years. Evans
doesn't think so.
“The biggest thing is, let's focus on continuing to gain,” Evans
said Monday. “Bringing new jobs here. Creating good job
climates. Making sure it’s high quality jobs and making sure
that we’re taking care of people who are struggling to make them
more productive.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said Illinois’ population
loss is evident.
“People are leaving the state and the amount of members of
Congress shows that,” Bost said.
Illinois has 17 U.S. House seats. Because of reapportionment
based on population, that’s down from 22 seats 30 years ago.
Bost suggested poor policies by the Democratic majority in
Illinois don’t compare to Republican control decades ago.
“If you’ll remember in 1995, the Republicans had control of the
House, control of the Senate and every statewide office,” Bost
said. “We paid our bills on a 28-day pay cycle and our long-term
indebtedness was less than $20 billion.”
Illinois’ legacy debt for public employee pensions now exceeds
$200 billion, when considering state and local unfunded pension
liability.
This week with Crain’s Chicago Business, Pritzker blamed the
population decline on outgoing college students. He said with
more taxpayer funding for college scholarships, that’s turning
around.
“People who are down on Illinois are not looking at the right
indicators of the future of our state. Our future is bright,”
Pritzker said. “Our enrollment numbers are some of the best in
our university and our colleges are some of the best in the
country now.”
Illinois’ population for 2022 is estimated at 12.6 million, down
from 12.8 million in 2020.
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