Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Champaign) | File Photo
Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Champaign) | File Photo
A Republican lawmaker publicly asked for ideas to help reverse a decline in population as the state learned it would lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the available 2020 Census data.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker had mentioned the need to turn around the worrisome decades-long trend of people leaving the state, The News-Gazette reported.
Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Champaign) took the governor's statement to use as a question presented to people on Facebook April 27.
"What would you suggest to Gov. Pritzker to 'turn our state around?' Please be specific and constructive," Rose asked of his 5,100 followers.
Pritzker believes the state's declining population can be linked to students who attended colleges and universities outside the Prairie State and opt not to return. Illinois was one of six states to lose a congressional seat and one of three reporting a population loss since 2010.
In eight of the last nine decades, Illinois lost at least one member of Congress, going from 27 seats from 1910 until the 1940 census to 17 representatives after the 2020 census.
According to the state's constitution, members of the Illinois Legislature now have to create a new legislative map by drawing out district lines that head to Pritzker for either approval or veto.
Alerts Sign-up