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Record of Proceedings

Lake County Board Legislative Committee Special Meeting on Census Proposal - October 29, 2026

Committee Meetings — Thursday, October 29, 2026
BodyLake County, Illinois
SessionCommittee Meetings
DateThursday, October 29, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 53:55

Original source
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:12

Thank you.

0:13

It's 10 45 a.m.

0:15

on October 29th, 2026.

0:18

And I call the legislative committee of the Lake County Board to order.

0:22

Gina, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance?

0:30

The United States of America.

0:32

And through the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God.

0:36

Individual

Speaker 2

0:38

Liberty and Justice for all.

Speaker 1

0:40

Thank you.

0:42

Could we have a roll call, please, Teresa?

Speaker 3

0:44

Yes.

Speaker 4

0:46

Here.

Speaker 3

0:47

Member Frank?

Speaker 4

0:48

Here.

Speaker 3

0:49

Member Hunter?

0:50

Here.

0:51

Member Roberts?

Speaker 5

0:52

Here.

Speaker 3

0:53

Member Schlick.

0:55

Member Bolitzik?

0:56

Here.

0:56

Chair Wasick.

Speaker 1

0:58

Here.

0:58

Thank you.

0:59

I believe we have a quorum.

1:00

Do we have any addenda to the agenda?

1:03

We do not.

1:03

Okay, thank you.

1:04

Any public comment?

Speaker 6

1:06

There's no public comment.

Speaker 1

1:07

Okay.

1:08

Brief remarks.

1:09

We're having this special meeting because the normal meeting we have in November was on election day, and we had an urgent matter that we had to address before November 2nd.

1:18

So we're having this special meeting today to review a census proposal.

Unassigned speaker

1:24

Do

Speaker 1

1:24

we have any unfinished business?

1:26

We

Speaker 6

1:26

do not.

Speaker 1

1:26

Okay, thanks.

1:27

Uh new business regular agenda 8.1 will be a presentation by Clayton Cox and Scott Binkley from McGuire Woods on the census proposal.

Speaker 6

1:41

Chair, so uh Clayton is on and um Clayton.

1:46

I think you have a presentation just with some bullets that you were gonna uh bring up with respect to your update.

Speaker 7

1:51

Yes, uh Grayson, there's well, it's two Clayton Coxes, uh but Grayson here is pulled up.

1:57

Scott had a uh new and eastern lunch, so unfortunately, since things shifted back a little, he won't be able to join us.

2:03

But um I've got the ball here.

2:06

So Grayson, if you can pull it up

Unassigned speaker

2:08

or two

Speaker 7

2:09

Clayton Coxes, not not a bad problem.

2:12

Um all right, well, we wanted to next slide, Grayson.

2:16

Uh just while we've got you, give a real quick one-slide federal update.

2:21

Um, just some things that uh not a ton is changed.

2:25

Just want to um run over these things real quick before we get into uh the census changes, which um yes, that is the reason that we're having special meeting.

2:36

Um a comment letter is due by uh November 2nd, which is Monday.

2:41

So real quick on the federal update, elections as you alluded to are on Tuesday.

2:47

Um as of right now, people who are a lot smarter than me um are saying that Democrats are I think favored to take the House.

2:55

Uh that's typically what's common in a um midterm cycle, especially in the president's second term.

3:01

So it's looking like there will be a change in house leadership.

3:06

Uh the Senate, I think we'll probably go late Tuesday night, Wednesday morning until we find out um who is in control of the United States Senate.

3:14

Um, but nonetheless, lots of changes coming down the pike.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Federal Legislative Update█████████████████████████████████████████████55%
Legislative Process████████████████19%
Procedural████████10%
Public Health███4%
Census██3%
Federal Funding██3%
Governance██3%
Public Engagement██2%
Personnel Matters█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Lake County Board Legislative Committee Special Meeting on Census Proposal - October 29, 2026

The Legislative Committee of the Lake County Board convened a special meeting at 10:45 AM on October 29, 2026, to address an urgent matter requiring action before a November 2, 2026 deadline—a proposed rule change for the 2030 Decennial Census by the U.S. Census Bureau. The meeting included a federal legislative update, a detailed overview of the proposed changes, analysis of local impacts by county staff, and committee deliberation on an official county response.

Discussion Items

  • Federal Update: Clayton Cox of McGuire Woods provided a brief update on the upcoming elections, the potential for a change in House leadership, the retirements of Senator Durbin and Representative Schakowsky, and the importance of the county preparing for the FY28 earmarks and congressionally directed spending process.
  • Census Proposal Overview: Clayton Cox presented the key changes proposed by the Census Bureau. He stated the proposed rule would change the fundamental count from "every soul" to only U.S. citizens and certain lawful permanent residents. This would exclude individuals on H-1B visas, international students, DACA recipients, TPS holders, and undocumented residents. The proposal would also prohibit the collection of data on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, and would determine residency based on where a person lived from January to April. Cox noted that NLC and NACO were encouraging individual county comments to highlight specific local impacts.
  • Committee Debate on County Response:
    • Member Paul Frank initially expressed a preference for the county to work through state and national associations rather than submit an individual comment, but later clarified his full support for a robust individual county response given the severity and risk of the proposal.
    • Vice Chair Campos presented draft language for a comment letter, asserting the proposal was "fundamentally un-American" and calling for strong opposition from the county.
    • Member Hunter cautioned against partisan critiques ("administration bias") and expressed procedural concern over the committee taking action on behalf of the full 19-member board without a full vote, given the tight timeline.
    • Member Roberts supported the comment letter, arguing the proposal was an intentional method to "undercut funding to Illinois."
  • Local Impact Analysis:
    • Emily Gelber (Health Department): Stated the changes would "fundamentally pretend that people aren't there." She testified that removing demographic questions and excluding non-citizens would hinder the department's ability to track health disparities, understand community needs, and compete for federal grants. She noted that almost all health department grants rely on this data.
    • Dominic Strezo (Community Development): Stated that the changes could directly impact approximately $4.5 to $5 million in annual HUD entitlement funds. He emphasized that the county relies heavily on census data for planning affordable housing and allocating community development resources.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee reached a consensus to submit a formal comment letter opposing the Census Bureau's proposed rule changes for the 2030 Census.
  • Content of the Letter: Staff was directed to finalize the letter using Vice Chair Campos' draft as a template. The letter will include context about Lake County's demographics, formal opposition to excluding non-citizen residents from the apportionment count, opposition to removing race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation questions, and concerns about the proposed residency timeframe.
  • Submission and Distribution: The letter will be filed with the Census Bureau before the November 2nd deadline at 11:59 PM ET (10:59 PM CT). Copies will be sent to the county's full congressional and state delegations.
  • Outreach to Associations: Staff was directed to contact NACO and ISECO to encourage them to issue their own formal comments on the proposed rule.
  • Follow-up: Staff and McGuire Woods will monitor the proposal's progress and provide updates to the committee.
  • The committee voted to enter executive session to discuss personnel matters.

Meeting Transcript

Thank you. It's 10 45 a.m. on October 29th, 2026. And I call the legislative committee of the Lake County Board to order. Gina, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? The United States of America. And through the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God. Individual Liberty and Justice for all. Thank you. Could we have a roll call, please, Teresa? Yes. Here. Member Frank? Here. Member Hunter? Here. Member Roberts? Here. Member Schlick. Member Bolitzik? Here. Chair Wasick. Here. Thank you. I believe we have a quorum. Do we have any addenda to the agenda? We do not. Okay, thank you. Any public comment? There's no public comment. Okay. Brief remarks. We're having this special meeting because the normal meeting we have in November was on election day, and we had an urgent matter that we had to address before November 2nd. So we're having this special meeting today to review a census proposal. Do we have any unfinished business? We do not. Okay, thanks. Uh new business regular agenda 8.1 will be a presentation by Clayton Cox and Scott Binkley from McGuire Woods on the census proposal. Chair, so uh Clayton is on and um Clayton. I think you have a presentation just with some bullets that you were gonna uh bring up with respect to your update. Yes, uh Grayson, there's well, it's two Clayton Coxes, uh but Grayson here is pulled up. Scott had a uh new and eastern lunch, so unfortunately, since things shifted back a little, he won't be able to join us. But um I've got the ball here. So Grayson, if you can pull it up or two Clayton Coxes, not not a bad problem. Um all right, well, we wanted to next slide, Grayson.

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