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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Obtaining an accurate count of the population is
3so vital to a representative democracy that the framers of the
4United States Constitution addressed the issue of the census
5and apportionment in the opening paragraphs of the
6Constitution; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Illinois Constitution requires that federal
8census data be the basis for state redistricting; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Census Bureau currently has a policy of
10counting incarcerated people at the address of the correctional
11institution, even though for other legal purposes their home
12address remains their legal residence; and
 
13    WHEREAS, This census data results in distortions of the
14one-person, one-vote principle in drawing electoral districts
15in Illinois, diluting the representation of the majority of
16districts that do not contain prisons; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The simplest solution to the conflict between
18federal constitutional requirements of "one person, one vote"
19and the Illinois constitutional requirements of using the
20federal census is for the Census Bureau to publish
21redistricting data based on the location of an incarcerated

 

 

HR0494- 2 -LRB101 13819 MST 62678 r

1person's residence, not prison location; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The Census Bureau has already recognized the
3demand from states and counties for data that better reflects
4their actual populations and has agreed to release data on
5prison populations to states in time for redistricting,
6enabling some states to individually adjust the population data
7used for redistricting; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Public Law 94-171 requires the Census Bureau to
9work with states to provide geographically relevant data, and
10the Census Bureau has been responsive to the data needs of the
11states for the past three decades; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
13HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
14we urge the Census Bureau, in the next census and thereafter,
15to provide states with redistricting data that counts
16incarcerated persons at their residential address, rather than
17the address of the correctional institution where they are
18temporarily located; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20delivered to the U.S. Census Bureau.