The results of the 2020 Census are in. For those of you who don’t know, the census is a form filled out by every person living in the United States and asking them information about how many people live in their household and what their income is. A few states have gained seats but over half a dozen have lost seats. Oregon, Montana, North Carolina, Florida, and Colorado all gained one seat in the House and Texas gained two seats. The states losing a seat are California, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. New York wouldn’t have lost their seat if 89 more New York residents responded, with Governor Andrew Cuomo saying that the state will look at legal actions to regain their one seat. We won’t see these new seats be occupied until the new Congress in 2023 with the next election in 2022. These will also contribute to the 2024 Presidential election with states gaining and losing electoral votes. A new estimate for the US population also came out of the census. According to the Census Bureau, the population is 331,449,281. This year's census pointed out that the US birth rate is on a decline. With the next census until 2030 these will be how elections will shape up for the next ten years.
Last year in March I was able to interview Patricia Ramos from the US Census Bureau. This is my interview with her from 2020:
While all of this might be confusing, I was able to interview (on March 18th) Patricia Ramos, who works for the U.S. Census Bureau, to learn more about its importance.
One of my main questions was why completing the census is so critical. Ramos’s main point was that the census is important because it provides a population count for the country, each state, and even sometimes a city.
I then decided to ask her how the census contributes to our daily lives. She said, “The census is important for many reasons. One of the reasons relates to the current situation with COVID-19. The census helps each state/city decide how many hospitals and first responders are needed. But one of the main reasons is all about government funding. The census decides the government funding for the next ten years. The government funding is needed for many things, from healthcare and national parks.” Ramos also talked about how the census contributes to planning for the case of a natural disaster such as earthquakes or fires.
My next few questions centered around counting the homeless. I asked, “What is one thing people should know about the census, and what is the hardest group to count?” Ramos talked about how it is important you shouldn’t wait for someone to knock on your door to fill out the census. Filling out the census is required by law because it is in the U.S. Constitution. She said, “The census comes in thirteen different languages including Braille and American Sign Language. You can find those versions and all the other languages at 2020census.gov. You can also find information about who is counted and the three different ways to respond (on the internet, by calling, or by mail) at that website.”
My last question was on how to count the homeless. Ramos responded, “We have a specific operation that was supposed to happen over three days next week, but due to COVID-19, it has been postponed at least a month.” (UPDATE: The Census was to conduct this operation in September of 2020).
Sources: https://www.cnet.com/news/census-2020-results-see-house-seats-removed-from-california-new-york/
Comments