John Hudak 2020-06-12 15:51:58
Making Sense of the Census, and What It Means to US
Sometime between the 12th and 20th of this month, each Arizona household will receive invitations to participate in the 2020 Census online; actual printed versions will arrive closer to April 1.
There has been an unusual amount of controversy leading up to this year’s census thanks to the Trump administration wanting to add a question about citizenship that was determined by the courts to be inappropriate, and ultimately not allowed. The concern is that it will nonetheless achieve the desired effect of scaring some people who are not citizens, but are residents, from participating, and thus creating an “undercount” for Arizona. It is in our best interest not to have an “undercount” no matter what your political persuasion!
An “undercount” for Arizona would cost us not only in federal dollars allocated to our state, but also potential congressional representation, and even affect legislative and school re-districting. I mention this because the purpose of the census every 10 years is to get an idea of how many people actually are living in an area, not who does or does not have legal citizenship. I will submit here that the purpose of getting a real count of how many people use our roads, attend our schools, need health and community services and much more, helps us plan for how many people need school lunches, hospital care, police protection, and much more.
To be specific, the $675 billion in federal annual funds allocated to states based on population is used for schools, hospitals, roads, public works, and other vital programs. A list of programs supported by these federal funds include Medicaid, SNAP, Medicare, highway planning and construction, Title 1 grants to schools districts, national school lunch programs, Head Start/Early Head Start, Section 8 housing, foster care, state children’s health insurance, and low-income energy assistance, to mention a few that directly impact Arizona residents. A complete count ensures that we can preserve the quality of life we enjoy in Arizona, and maybe improve it.
Yes, the real “sense” of census literally means dollars and cents to us in Tucson and Arizona. In fact, estimates show up to $3,000 per person, per year is at stake for every Arizonan. That is more than $20 billion annually that helps support our communities around the state.
Even without any controversy, Arizona historically has seen underrepresented counts for young children, multifamily housing residents, military families, non-native English speakers, low-income residents, minorities and rural residents. Responses to the 2020 Census are safe, secure, and protected by federal law. Answers only can be used to produce statistics. They cannot be used against any participant by any government agency or court in any way — not by the FBI, not by the CIA, not by the DHS, and not by ICE.
We in Arizona and Pima County need all people who live here to respond to the census in order to get our fair share of, first, elected congressional seats, and second, actual federal monies apportioned by population, not citizenship, that we deserve. Arizona and Pima County have been some of the fastest growing parts of the United States during the past 10-year period. We have earned, and need, our fair share of federal representation and budget sharing. Support the census!
It’s estimated that up to $3,000 per person, per year is at stake for every Arizonan. That is more than $20 billion annually that helps support our communities.
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