Chicago City Council October 31st, 2018
RESOLUTION CALLING FOR EMERGENCY FUND TO ADDRESS THE CITIZENSHIP
QUESTION IN THE 2020 CENSUS
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is firm in its status as a Welcoming C'ty, providing a home to all individuals regardless of their place of birth; and
WHEREAS, the upcoming 2020 Census poses difficult challenges that inhibit accurate counts ofthe United States population; and,
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution requires a Census be enumerated at least once every ten years to determine the make up of the House of Representatives and determine how over $400 billion of resources are allocated annually; and,
WHEREAS, the residents of Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago are Constitutionally guaranteed their fair share of those 435 seats in the House of Representatives and $400 billion to be determined by the results of the 2020 Census; and,
WHEREAS, Trump's reduction in field staff, directors, and the increasing use of technology for the first time will pose problems for the 2020 Census and all Chicagoans; and,
WHEREAS, immigrants of all ethnicities are among the hard-to-count populations that have experienced an undercount in the past; and,
WHEREAS, the state of Illinois experienced undercounts of 100,000 people in 2000 and 128,000 in 2010, reducing federal funding for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, CHIP, and foster/child care by $5 billion; and,
WHEREAS, undercounting could have lasting and reverberating impacts, from overcrowded classrooms, to fewer Head Start programs, and uninsured children and understaffed emergency services; and,
WHEREAS, low income communities will be impacted harder due to undercounting of residents in Chicago; and,
BE IT RESOLVED, that Chicago cannot and will not have their Constitutionally guaranteed resources stolen from them again by the Trump Administration or a poorly prepared 2020 Census; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an Emergency Fund will be established to conduct specialized out...
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