Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania’s census commission asking state to spend $1 per head on the 2020 Census
Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania’s census commission asking state to spend $1 per head on the 2020 Census
The group created by Gov. Tom Wolf to ensure that all Pennsylvanians are counted in the 2020 Census said Monday that it is asking the state to pledge $1 in funding for every current resident — or more than $12 million — for outreach and education.
The allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding, each state’s share of U.S. House seats, and voting district boundaries rely on population numbers from the decennial census, which is mandated by the Constitution.
With so much at stake, Pennsylvania’s Census 2020 Complete Count Commission is seeking the funds as part of its campaign to teach residents — especially historically undercounted groups — about the importance of the census so they fill out their questionnaires.
“For every person we miss, every community we undercount, and all the groups we ignore, that will have a tremendous impact on the federal program funding, critical data for business owners, and building an improved Pennsylvania,” Micah Sims, a 2020 Census Complete Count commissioner and executive director of the good-government group Common Cause Pennsylvania, said in a statement Monday.