Illinois State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) believes residents moving to lower-taxed states. | Facebook
Illinois State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) believes residents moving to lower-taxed states. | Facebook
With Illinois slated to lose a congressional seat due to the declining population, state leaders disagree on why people are leaving.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the population of Illinois has been declining for the last decade. Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently conjectured that a lack of affordable colleges is to blame for students choosing to move out of state to attend school, according to My Stateline News. State Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) agreed somewhat with the governor and believes other causes are in play, including the lower tax rates of the states surrounding Illinois.
"Illinois' population shrunk while almost every single state around us has grown in population," Sosnowski said in an April 27 Facebook post. "We lost a congressional seat in large part because people see better opportunities in lower-taxed states."
Sosnowski added that losing a seat and having less representation on Capitol Hill is "troubling."
Population data obtained from the Census Bureau is used to determine which states gain and which ones lose seats in Congress.
State lawmakers are also using Census data to draw new legislative district maps, and those new maps will determine which congressional district is chopped.
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