Assistant Majority Leader Iris Y. Martinez (D-Chicago) announced that she has been appointed to the bipartisan, bicameral Census Advisory Panel, which will work to reach people in hard-to-count areas during the 2020 Census. The panel was created as part of an executive order signed by Gov. JB Pritzker to ensure a full census count in 2020. The order also establishes a Census Office within the Department of Human Services that will administer grants and conduct outreach and education about the census. “I am thankful that the governor is taking the upcoming census so seriously and working to make sure that every resident in Illinois is counted,” Martinez said. “The consequences of an undercount would affect everyone in our state, so it is important that everyone be able to participate.” The census is used to determine representation in Congress and federal funding, so Illinois could potentially lose up to two congressional seats and billions in federal dollars if there is an undercount in 2020. The 2020 Census officially begins on April 1, 2020.