SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- According to the U.S. Census, Illinois has 18,000 fewer residents now than it did 10 years ago and that’s going to cost the state one of its 18 congressional seats.
Illinois last had its greatest representation in the U.S. House in 1943 when it had 27 members of Congress. Now, there are 18, and for next year’s elections, there will be 17.
Governor Pritzker said the largest group leaving Illinois is college students.
"Some of our best students are being offered full scholarships to places like the University of Alabama, the University of Iowa, other places. So, I immediately set out to address that with the General Assembly and we did. We increased significantly the amount of MAP grants that are available to people," Pritzker said.
Because the Democrat-controlled Illinois legislature is charged with drawing the new congressional district map, Republican politicians in Illinois are concerned that when the state’s new congressional district map is drawn under the new Census figures, the GOP will be losing a seat in Congress.
Downstate Republican State Rep. Dave Severin said everyone assumed the state would lose a congressional seat, because it was losing people.
"What we knew all along what’s going on in southern Illinois and that is, suffering population. And, it’s due to two things: high taxes and the regulatory environment that discourages private growth and investment. We’re losing people and businesses to border states with lower taxes," he said.
Republicans are urging Governor Pritzker to keep his promise to veto any new congressional map that drawn with political parties in mind.
Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger said he may run for statewide office if Democrats radically re-draw his district.
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