Of course, the first job of the constitutionally-required decennial census is to count and place every resident of this country for purposes of congressional reapportionment and in-state redistricting of legislative bodies.
But, a second critical function of census data is to guide the federal government’s disbursement of nearly $600 billion a year of federal dollars to state/local governments to support such programs as Medicaid, Medicare, highway construction, school lunch programs, public housing and Head Start.
Research Professor Andrew Reamer of George Washington University authored a new report, “Counting for Dollars,” that underscores the relationship between a fair and accurate census and various state and local government programs.
States have a serious stake in the final FY 2018 census budget battles this fall!