South Central Reporter

A Republican lawmaker from Litchfield said that Illinois population decline based on Census data doesn't "come as much of a surprise." 

Avery Bourne's (R-Litchfield) comments came after the 2020 Census showed that the state's population decline will cost it one congressional seat and follows a chorus of Republicans raising more concerns. 

"[...] The anecdotes that we have heard from our constituents for years came out in numbers," Bourne said in a video posted to YouTube April 27. "We saw that Illinois is one of the only states in the country who lost population."

The only state to lose more people than Illinois in the 2010s was West Virginia. The representative pointed out that none of Illinois' neighboring states throughout the Midwest experienced a dip in population numbers, and likened the decline to a stagnant economy, dwindling opportunities for families and a history of bad policy. 

The U.S. Census estimated that Illinois lost approximately 168,700 residents between 2010 and 2019. 

Bourne hopes her fellow legislators see the numbers as a wake-up call before more revenue opportunities and congressional seats are lost. 

"[...] Unfortunately these results don't come as much of a surprise," Bourne said. "I want to reiterate that we were the only one of our neighbors to have lost population, and we are also one of our only neighbors to have had these kinds of job-killing policies in our state."