Peoria Standard

Illinois' dramatic population drop over the past decade and the subsequent loss in Congressional representation is all the fault of Democratic majorities born of gerrymandering, a Springfield House representative said during a recent news conference.

The last decade is the first time since 1900 that Illinois has lost population, state House Assistant Republican Leader Tim Butler (R-Springfield) said during the news conference posted to YouTube on Monday, April 26.

"What we've seen are continued policies - failed policies in our minds - that drive people out of the state," Butler said. He added "it's no surprise" that neighboring states have picked up residents and Congressional seats.

Meanwhile, Illinois has only 17 Congressional representatives, five fewer than 30 years ago.

"Not only is that a great blemish on the prestige of our state of Illinois, it really comes home to roost when it comes to our state’s power in Washington D.C.," Butler said. "The decline in population is stunning."

Butler called the news conference after the U.S. Census released apportionment data that revealed Illinois is one of three states to lose population and one of seven to lose a seat in Congress.

Butler, a member and Republican spokesman for the state House Redistricting Committee, has represented the 87th House District since his appointment to that seat in place of Rich Brauer, who left to be assistant secretary for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The 87th House District includes portions of Sangamon, Logan, Menard and Tazewell counties

Dramatic population drops throughout Illinois as residents flee high taxes and the state's lack of jobs and affordable housing is nothing new. In May 2016, the U.S. Census bureau issued data that found the population in the majority of Illinois' large cities were sharply declining.

More recently, the Illinois Policy Institute found that the 2010s "were a lost decade for the Land of Lincoln," losing more people than any other state in the U.S. Illinois lost more than 168,000 residents between 2010 and 2019, according to the IPI report, which cited U.S. Census Bureau data. That number is more than the entire population of Illinois' third-largest city, Naperville.

"This is really a sad day in Illinois' history when we see that our population has declined so much that we continue to lose seats and our presence on Capitol Hill," Butler said.

On the national level, Democrats are "trying to poach seats from Illinois" by pushing for partisan redistricting maps "to gain maximum advantage" in Washington and Illinoisans are sick of it, Butler said.

"And what we've heard time and time and time again at the (Redistricting Committee) hearings that we've had are people that are sick of that process, who want us to do it in a fair, open, transparent manner and draw maps that aren't gerrymandered," he said.

"Gerrymandering is a fine art in this state that leads to maximum political advantage," Butler said.