Congressman Krishnamoorthi Urges Commerce Department Inspector General’s Office To Address Ways To Improve Census Population Estimates Program As Part Of Its Ongoing Audit Of Census Bureau Activities

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi continued his efforts to correct the Census Bureau's undercounting of Illinois in the 2020 Census and its resulting loss in its fair share of federal funding by urging the Department of Commerce's Office of the Inspector General (COIG) to address ways to improve the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program (PEP) as part of its ongoing audit of the Census Bureau's Post-Enumeration Survey (PES). The PES is a tool used to evaluate the accuracy of the decennial census and the PES of the 2020 Decennial Census found 14 states had been undercounted or overcounted, including Illinois which was undercounted by an estimated 1.97 percent. Congressman Krishnamoorthi's new letter requests that, as the COIG audits the 2020 PES, that it also addresses how PES findings can be used to improve the PEP's annual population and resulting federal aid allocations as a means to ensuring Illinois receives its fair share of funding from Washington.

Congressman Krishnamoorthi's letter is available here and its text follows below.

July 11, 2023

Arthur L. Scott, Jr.

Assistant Inspector General for Audit and Evaluation

Office of the Inspector General

U.S. Department of Commerce

1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W

Washington, DC 20230

Assistant Inspector General Scott,

I am writing regarding your June 14, 2023 announcement that you had initiated an audit of the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES) to assess the validity of the 2020 PES results as they relate to overcounts and undercounts. Those results included the estimate that 14 states had an undercount or overcount, including my home state of Illinois, which was undercounted by an estimated 1.97 percent.[1]

As part of your audit of the PES's validity, I urge you and your office to specifically address not only the quality of the PES, but also the applicability and transferability of those results and any methodological findings to immediately improve the accuracy of the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program (PEP) and the resulting federal funding allocations, in addition to improving the 2030 Decennial Census.

As you know, Census Bureau data determines the allocation of $1.5 trillion of federal funding over the course of a decade, and Illinoisans rely on roughly 100 programs, such as health care and education programs, for which federal funding levels are determined by such allocations. Because of this funding structure, the undercount and flawed projections are not simply questions of statistical theory and data practices, but of the health and wellbeing of millions of people.

Given the high stakes inherent in Census-based funding allocations and thus the accuracy of the Decennial Census, the PEP, and other Census Bureau programs that rely on it, I sincerely ask that your audit of the PES addresses not only the validity of the PES, but also how it can be most quickly and effectively used to improve other Census Bureau data.

Sincerely,

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Member of Congress