An editorial from the Sun Herald...
Following the 2000 Census, South Mississippi gained a seat in the state House of Representatives: District 95, which meanders north from Diamondhead in Hancock County to East Saucier in Harrison County, where it plunges south through Orange Grove, shoots east into the Bel Aire precincts of Gulfport and finally bottoms out south of Interstate 10 just outside of Long Beach.
Even though the area is represented by Jessica Upshaw, a Republican from Diamondhead, South Mississippi legislators of both parties are concerned about the chances of the district staying in South Mississippi during the redistricting process that will follow the 2010 Census.
Population estimates show roughly as many people live in the six southernmost counties now as did 10 years ago. But the numbers have shifted. In the north, George, Pearl River and Stone counties have gained population, while in the south, Hancock and Harrison counties have lost population. Jackson County is about where it was.
Next year, those estimates will be turned into hard numbers. It is vital that each South Mississippian is counted, so that all will be properly represented at the Capitol.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Daily Journal: Census soon
Daily Journal describes importance of being counted in Census 2010...
The year ahead offers many challenges for Mississippi. Paying for critical state services in a time of plummeting revenues and reviving a recession-battered economy are just two of the most obvious.
But one of the toughest challenges may be one of the most basic - getting everybody in the state counted.
In 2010, the nation will have its decennial census as prescribed by the Constitution. To say there's a lot riding on the outcome is an understatement.
An accurate count can make the difference in how much of $400 billion in federal aid Mississippi gets. The census also determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress for the next 10 years.
The 2000 census hit Mississippi with the loss of one of its five congressional seats. While our state showed some population growth, it wasn't as much as others who gained additional Washington representation at Mississippi's expense.
The U.S. Census bureau issues annual population estimates, and Mississippi in the recently released 2009 figures has 2,951,996 people, a 0.4 percent increase over 2008 and about 3.8 percent more than the official 2000 count of 2,844,666. Obviously, that's not fast-paced growth, which makes counting everyone next year that much more important.
One of the factors that is likely to hurt Mississippi is the outmigration from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina's devastation uprooted so many lives in 2005. A lot of those residents moved into other parts of Mississippi, but others left the state entirely.
Some activists are lobbying for a special Census along the Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama coasts after the official 2010 count, which is supposed to reflect where people are living as of April 1. But that would be costly, and there's no indication of where the money would come from.
It won't be long before the Census effort cranks up. Census forms will be mailed or delivered to every household in March, with a request that they be returned by April 1, which is "National Census Day." From April through July, workers will knock on doors of those households that didn't return a form. In December, an official report with the numbers will be delivered to the president.
Mississippians can do their state a great favor by responding to the Census and returning the form as instructed. This will save everyone time and money, as well as helping ensure an accurate count.
This isn't some intrusive exercise by the federal government; it's a necessary procedure firmly rooted in our constitutional system. In short, cooperating fully with Census takers is a patriotic thing to do - and of vital importance to our state.
The year ahead offers many challenges for Mississippi. Paying for critical state services in a time of plummeting revenues and reviving a recession-battered economy are just two of the most obvious.
But one of the toughest challenges may be one of the most basic - getting everybody in the state counted.
In 2010, the nation will have its decennial census as prescribed by the Constitution. To say there's a lot riding on the outcome is an understatement.
An accurate count can make the difference in how much of $400 billion in federal aid Mississippi gets. The census also determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress for the next 10 years.
The 2000 census hit Mississippi with the loss of one of its five congressional seats. While our state showed some population growth, it wasn't as much as others who gained additional Washington representation at Mississippi's expense.
The U.S. Census bureau issues annual population estimates, and Mississippi in the recently released 2009 figures has 2,951,996 people, a 0.4 percent increase over 2008 and about 3.8 percent more than the official 2000 count of 2,844,666. Obviously, that's not fast-paced growth, which makes counting everyone next year that much more important.
One of the factors that is likely to hurt Mississippi is the outmigration from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina's devastation uprooted so many lives in 2005. A lot of those residents moved into other parts of Mississippi, but others left the state entirely.
Some activists are lobbying for a special Census along the Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama coasts after the official 2010 count, which is supposed to reflect where people are living as of April 1. But that would be costly, and there's no indication of where the money would come from.
It won't be long before the Census effort cranks up. Census forms will be mailed or delivered to every household in March, with a request that they be returned by April 1, which is "National Census Day." From April through July, workers will knock on doors of those households that didn't return a form. In December, an official report with the numbers will be delivered to the president.
Mississippians can do their state a great favor by responding to the Census and returning the form as instructed. This will save everyone time and money, as well as helping ensure an accurate count.
This isn't some intrusive exercise by the federal government; it's a necessary procedure firmly rooted in our constitutional system. In short, cooperating fully with Census takers is a patriotic thing to do - and of vital importance to our state.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Census to show growth in MS population from 2008-09
A Census story, just in time for Christmas. From today's Clarion Ledger...
Despite an estimated 3,600 people having left the state last fiscal year, Mississippi had some growth to move even closer to a 3 million population mark, thanks to more births than deaths.
The state's population is 2,951,996, an increase of 0.4 percent, according to state-by-state estimates the Census Bureau released Wednesday.
According to the last of the agency's annual population estimates before the decennial count in 2010, Mississippians made up for the loss in net migration by having more children. The Census Bureau estimates there were 44,125 births through July 1 over 28,934 deaths.
One-year-old L'deja Blevins contributed to the estimated 11,784 growth in the state's population in the fiscal year ending June 30.
Mississippi is a fine place to grow up, said Dorothy Blevins, L'deja's grandmother, as she pushed her fifth grandchild in a stroller toward the Babies 'R' Us in Flowood Wednesday afternoon. "I've been here all my life," she said.
Mississippi's estimated growth keeps the state at its current ranking as 31st most populous. California, with 37 million residents, remains the state with the largest population, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.
State leaders are beginning to talk up the upcoming 2010 census and the importance the count has on federal funding formulas and political representation.
Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes plans to discuss the census at Tuesday's council meeting as a way to urge city residents to participate.
A lot of urban residents are distrustful of census takers and are reluctant to answer the questions truthfully, he said. It is up to local leaders to "take the fear out of it," he said.
"A lot of people say the black community has always been undercounted," he said. "I think it is important that you put your best foot forward so that you are properly counted."
That's true on the Gulf Coast, too, where tens of thousands of people were displaced four years ago by Hurricane Katrina, Stokes said. Stokes said he fears an inaccurate count could cost the state political representation in Washington as it did a decade ago.
The 2000 census determined Mississippi grew to 2.8 million people in the 1990s, but that 10.5 percent growth was behind the national average of 13.2 percent. As a result, Mississippi lost a seat in the House of Representatives.
Census figures also are used in awarding federal dollars. Each year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states, based on the census data.
The projections released Wednesday determined the state has grown by 3.8 percent since 2000, while the nation has grown 9.1 percent.
Census Director Robert Groves has suggested a special census be conducted on the Gulf Coast after the 2010 census to count people who have yet to return. Someone would have to pay for it, he said.
Dan Turner, spokesman for Gov. Haley Barbour, said there is little extra money available for the state to pay for a special count. It likely would not change much anyway, he said.
"I think the supposition is that a great deal of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents have returned at this point," he said. "But the larger concern for Mississippi right now would be the cost. Given that we are looking at at least two, if not several, more really tough budget years, the idea of coming up with the extra money for another count on the Gulf Coast is a problem."
There are no cost estimates for such a count, but some on the Gulf Coast are advocating for it.
Experts say there are some challenges to conducting a special census, including counting people who are temporarily staying at a home.
"Under normal conditions, there's always a bit of error associated with taking any census,'' said Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution. "But at this point, I don't think the pace of in-and-out migration in the Gulf Coast is as much as it was directly following the storms. So we're not talking about a lot of in-and-out movement ... It's not high velocity.''
One of the more pressing challenges, she said, is whether local governments can afford to pay for it.
About 300 special censuses have been conducted since the 2000 count, said Pat Paytas, a program analyst with the census. Paytas said local governments request the counts so they can get more federal funding, but they must weigh the cost of paying for the special count against the benefit.
Mississippi was one of 10 states to lose people through migration.
Michigan, hard hit by the recession, lost the most with 87,339 people leaving for elsewhere in the United States. The state was one of three to record an overall population loss. Maine and Rhode Island also had small losses.
Despite an estimated 3,600 people having left the state last fiscal year, Mississippi had some growth to move even closer to a 3 million population mark, thanks to more births than deaths.
The state's population is 2,951,996, an increase of 0.4 percent, according to state-by-state estimates the Census Bureau released Wednesday.
According to the last of the agency's annual population estimates before the decennial count in 2010, Mississippians made up for the loss in net migration by having more children. The Census Bureau estimates there were 44,125 births through July 1 over 28,934 deaths.
One-year-old L'deja Blevins contributed to the estimated 11,784 growth in the state's population in the fiscal year ending June 30.
Mississippi is a fine place to grow up, said Dorothy Blevins, L'deja's grandmother, as she pushed her fifth grandchild in a stroller toward the Babies 'R' Us in Flowood Wednesday afternoon. "I've been here all my life," she said.
Mississippi's estimated growth keeps the state at its current ranking as 31st most populous. California, with 37 million residents, remains the state with the largest population, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.
State leaders are beginning to talk up the upcoming 2010 census and the importance the count has on federal funding formulas and political representation.
Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes plans to discuss the census at Tuesday's council meeting as a way to urge city residents to participate.
A lot of urban residents are distrustful of census takers and are reluctant to answer the questions truthfully, he said. It is up to local leaders to "take the fear out of it," he said.
"A lot of people say the black community has always been undercounted," he said. "I think it is important that you put your best foot forward so that you are properly counted."
That's true on the Gulf Coast, too, where tens of thousands of people were displaced four years ago by Hurricane Katrina, Stokes said. Stokes said he fears an inaccurate count could cost the state political representation in Washington as it did a decade ago.
The 2000 census determined Mississippi grew to 2.8 million people in the 1990s, but that 10.5 percent growth was behind the national average of 13.2 percent. As a result, Mississippi lost a seat in the House of Representatives.
Census figures also are used in awarding federal dollars. Each year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states, based on the census data.
The projections released Wednesday determined the state has grown by 3.8 percent since 2000, while the nation has grown 9.1 percent.
Census Director Robert Groves has suggested a special census be conducted on the Gulf Coast after the 2010 census to count people who have yet to return. Someone would have to pay for it, he said.
Dan Turner, spokesman for Gov. Haley Barbour, said there is little extra money available for the state to pay for a special count. It likely would not change much anyway, he said.
"I think the supposition is that a great deal of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents have returned at this point," he said. "But the larger concern for Mississippi right now would be the cost. Given that we are looking at at least two, if not several, more really tough budget years, the idea of coming up with the extra money for another count on the Gulf Coast is a problem."
There are no cost estimates for such a count, but some on the Gulf Coast are advocating for it.
Experts say there are some challenges to conducting a special census, including counting people who are temporarily staying at a home.
"Under normal conditions, there's always a bit of error associated with taking any census,'' said Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution. "But at this point, I don't think the pace of in-and-out migration in the Gulf Coast is as much as it was directly following the storms. So we're not talking about a lot of in-and-out movement ... It's not high velocity.''
One of the more pressing challenges, she said, is whether local governments can afford to pay for it.
About 300 special censuses have been conducted since the 2000 count, said Pat Paytas, a program analyst with the census. Paytas said local governments request the counts so they can get more federal funding, but they must weigh the cost of paying for the special count against the benefit.
Mississippi was one of 10 states to lose people through migration.
Michigan, hard hit by the recession, lost the most with 87,339 people leaving for elsewhere in the United States. The state was one of three to record an overall population loss. Maine and Rhode Island also had small losses.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Special Gulf Coast Census eyed...
From today's Clarion Ledger:
WASHINGTON - It would only be "fair" for the federal government to conduct a special census in the Gulf Coast to count displaced residents who return to the region after the 2010 census, according to the head of the Census Bureau.
The question is: Who would pay for it?
"The fair thing to do for the country is to do another count of that area later on," Robert Groves said in an interview. He said Gulf Coast communities are still working to help residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed to return.
"They're rebuilding. They want more people there. People are coming back."
Census officials, local governments and community groups have raised concerns that the 2010 census count won't include all Gulf Coast residents, particularly those who haven't yet returned after the 2005 hurricanes. Every 10 years, the Census Bureau conducts a constitutionally-required count of residents living in the United States. Residents must be counted where they live on April 1, so displaced Gulf Coast residents will be counted wherever they are living on that day.
Much is at stake for Gulf Coast communities. Census data are used to distribute $400 billion in federal funds and determine the number of seats each state gets in the House of Representatives.
Community activists in the Gulf Coast and national civil rights groups are calling for a special census.
"If they haven't made it home by now, they won't be able to take advantage of their recovery dollars," said Trupania Bonner, executive director of Moving Forward Gulf Coast, a community group helping residents in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Groves said the agency has conducted more than 300 special censuses since the last major count in 2000. Many were for communities that had population growth or annexations and were looking for more federal funding, said Pat Paytas, a program analyst at the Census Bureau.
Groves said the bureau could return to the Gulf Coast for a special census if local governments or the state request a count.
But the cost of a special census must be reimbursed and it is unknown whether state or local governments in the Gulf Coast would be willing and able to pay for it.
"If the Census Bureau can get behind doing an interim count of the Gulf Coast region between the 2010 and 2020 census, then that would be a terrific way to be able to gauge how the region is growing," said Audrey Singer, a census expert at the Brookings Institution. "However, the cost and the politics of doing such a count may prevent it from happening."
Groves said he doesn't know how much a special census for the Gulf Coast would cost.
"I'm not saying it's cheap, but somehow other areas have gotten the political will to assemble the money," Groves said. "It is a matter of will."
Groves said the governments could seek federal or private funding.
Marc Morial, chairman of the Census Bureau's 2010 Census Advisory Committee and president of the National Urban League, said Congress could include the cost of the special census in the 2011 budget.
But congressional lawmakers, including Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the Census Bureau, have raised concerns about the cost.
Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, said the count is important to help communities get federal funds to rebuild. "It's something they should do quickly - 2011 at the latest," he said.
But Paytas said the earliest there could be a special count would be 2012.
The Census Bureau is aware of the challenges of doing the 2010 count in Gulf Coast states and is planning to take steps to address the concerns, including going door-to-door in some parts of the region to make sure hundreds of thousands of residents get questionnaires.
WASHINGTON - It would only be "fair" for the federal government to conduct a special census in the Gulf Coast to count displaced residents who return to the region after the 2010 census, according to the head of the Census Bureau.
The question is: Who would pay for it?
"The fair thing to do for the country is to do another count of that area later on," Robert Groves said in an interview. He said Gulf Coast communities are still working to help residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed to return.
"They're rebuilding. They want more people there. People are coming back."
Census officials, local governments and community groups have raised concerns that the 2010 census count won't include all Gulf Coast residents, particularly those who haven't yet returned after the 2005 hurricanes. Every 10 years, the Census Bureau conducts a constitutionally-required count of residents living in the United States. Residents must be counted where they live on April 1, so displaced Gulf Coast residents will be counted wherever they are living on that day.
Much is at stake for Gulf Coast communities. Census data are used to distribute $400 billion in federal funds and determine the number of seats each state gets in the House of Representatives.
Community activists in the Gulf Coast and national civil rights groups are calling for a special census.
"If they haven't made it home by now, they won't be able to take advantage of their recovery dollars," said Trupania Bonner, executive director of Moving Forward Gulf Coast, a community group helping residents in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Groves said the agency has conducted more than 300 special censuses since the last major count in 2000. Many were for communities that had population growth or annexations and were looking for more federal funding, said Pat Paytas, a program analyst at the Census Bureau.
Groves said the bureau could return to the Gulf Coast for a special census if local governments or the state request a count.
But the cost of a special census must be reimbursed and it is unknown whether state or local governments in the Gulf Coast would be willing and able to pay for it.
"If the Census Bureau can get behind doing an interim count of the Gulf Coast region between the 2010 and 2020 census, then that would be a terrific way to be able to gauge how the region is growing," said Audrey Singer, a census expert at the Brookings Institution. "However, the cost and the politics of doing such a count may prevent it from happening."
Groves said he doesn't know how much a special census for the Gulf Coast would cost.
"I'm not saying it's cheap, but somehow other areas have gotten the political will to assemble the money," Groves said. "It is a matter of will."
Groves said the governments could seek federal or private funding.
Marc Morial, chairman of the Census Bureau's 2010 Census Advisory Committee and president of the National Urban League, said Congress could include the cost of the special census in the 2011 budget.
But congressional lawmakers, including Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the Census Bureau, have raised concerns about the cost.
Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, said the count is important to help communities get federal funds to rebuild. "It's something they should do quickly - 2011 at the latest," he said.
But Paytas said the earliest there could be a special count would be 2012.
The Census Bureau is aware of the challenges of doing the 2010 count in Gulf Coast states and is planning to take steps to address the concerns, including going door-to-door in some parts of the region to make sure hundreds of thousands of residents get questionnaires.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Warren County promotes Census 2010
From the Vicksburg Post...
An effort has begun in Warren County to get all residents counted during the 2010 census.
Community events and notices are part of a local and nationwide push by a Complete County Committee that wants to let residents know census forms will arrive in March.
"Right now, the main thing is getting the word out," Kelvin Rankin, a Census Bureau partnership specialist working with the local committee, told The Vicksburg Post.
U.S. population counts have taken place every 10 years since 1790, with each shift affecting representation in Congress and federal funding for various projects.
Warren County's return rate was 63 percent in 2000, about the same as the statewide rate.
The 2010 survey will ask a person's name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship and housing tenure.
Warren County had 49,644 citizens in 2000, up nearly 2,000 from 1990. Slight drops have been recorded in bureau estimates since, most recently at 48,087 in 2008.
The 2000 count for Vicksburg, the county's largest city, was 26,407, up nearly 5,500 from 1990.
The Census Bureau released data in May showing Warren County has become a "minority-majority" county, meaning less than 50 percent of the population is non-Hispanic white.
The percentage that emerges from 2010's count will be of special importance to committee chairman Marie Thompson, a policy and intergovernmental relations official with the City of Vicksburg, who is Hispanic.
Next year's census allows for a person to identify under one or more Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin groups by country. Thompson said she'll be checking the box for Mexican, as both maternal grandparents hailed from south of the U.S. border.
"Before, I was counted as Caucasian," Thompson said.
Five local United Way agencies will hold two events each to raise awareness about the census, United Way of West Central Mississippi executive director Barbara Tolliver said.
Other outreach will be conducted by the Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP Vicksburg Chapter.
An effort has begun in Warren County to get all residents counted during the 2010 census.
Community events and notices are part of a local and nationwide push by a Complete County Committee that wants to let residents know census forms will arrive in March.
"Right now, the main thing is getting the word out," Kelvin Rankin, a Census Bureau partnership specialist working with the local committee, told The Vicksburg Post.
U.S. population counts have taken place every 10 years since 1790, with each shift affecting representation in Congress and federal funding for various projects.
Warren County's return rate was 63 percent in 2000, about the same as the statewide rate.
The 2010 survey will ask a person's name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship and housing tenure.
Warren County had 49,644 citizens in 2000, up nearly 2,000 from 1990. Slight drops have been recorded in bureau estimates since, most recently at 48,087 in 2008.
The 2000 count for Vicksburg, the county's largest city, was 26,407, up nearly 5,500 from 1990.
The Census Bureau released data in May showing Warren County has become a "minority-majority" county, meaning less than 50 percent of the population is non-Hispanic white.
The percentage that emerges from 2010's count will be of special importance to committee chairman Marie Thompson, a policy and intergovernmental relations official with the City of Vicksburg, who is Hispanic.
Next year's census allows for a person to identify under one or more Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin groups by country. Thompson said she'll be checking the box for Mexican, as both maternal grandparents hailed from south of the U.S. border.
"Before, I was counted as Caucasian," Thompson said.
Five local United Way agencies will hold two events each to raise awareness about the census, United Way of West Central Mississippi executive director Barbara Tolliver said.
Other outreach will be conducted by the Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP Vicksburg Chapter.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Bolivar: Hard-to-count area critical during Census 2010
From the Bolivar Commercial...
A local representative with the U.S. Census Bureau addressed the North Bolivar School Board Monday night about the census’ impact on the community.
Betty Petty, Census Bureau representative, explained to board members how money can be lost from incomplete population counts.
“We are in a hard to count area here,” said Petty. “Our people are not being counted and I’m talking specifically about everyone in the community.”
People who live in less accessible areas of communities are less likely to be counted in the census.
“We lose economic dollars and we know that in some of our communities people live in front of the street and have someone else living behind them in a separate house.”
Petty urged the whole community to get involved in ensuring all local residents are accounted for.
“Who knows our community better than the way we know it,” said Petty. “People need to get involved and tell somebody that they can call to get a job with the bureau and to make sure our people are counted.”
Petty said that many residents do not send the census forms back in because they get the idea the information they put down on the form will be distributed or made public.
“That is a myth, everything is confidential,” said Petty.
Employment with the bureau is still open for the up and coming spring census.
“That’s how we get money for our school districts and businesses,” said Petty.
According to the bureau census questionnaires will not be delivered to households until mid-March of 2010.
The last U.S. census administered was in the year 2000.
For more information about census jobs call 1-866-861-2010.
A local representative with the U.S. Census Bureau addressed the North Bolivar School Board Monday night about the census’ impact on the community.
Betty Petty, Census Bureau representative, explained to board members how money can be lost from incomplete population counts.
“We are in a hard to count area here,” said Petty. “Our people are not being counted and I’m talking specifically about everyone in the community.”
People who live in less accessible areas of communities are less likely to be counted in the census.
“We lose economic dollars and we know that in some of our communities people live in front of the street and have someone else living behind them in a separate house.”
Petty urged the whole community to get involved in ensuring all local residents are accounted for.
“Who knows our community better than the way we know it,” said Petty. “People need to get involved and tell somebody that they can call to get a job with the bureau and to make sure our people are counted.”
Petty said that many residents do not send the census forms back in because they get the idea the information they put down on the form will be distributed or made public.
“That is a myth, everything is confidential,” said Petty.
Employment with the bureau is still open for the up and coming spring census.
“That’s how we get money for our school districts and businesses,” said Petty.
According to the bureau census questionnaires will not be delivered to households until mid-March of 2010.
The last U.S. census administered was in the year 2000.
For more information about census jobs call 1-866-861-2010.
Columbus CCC seeks volunteers to help promote statewide count
From the Columbus Dispatch...
Next year marks the 2010 Census, and the Lowndes County Complete Count Committee is seeking volunteers to help better inform the public.
“A lot of people do not know what the Census is about, and we want to let people know how important it is to fill out the forms,” said Lowndes County Complete Count Committee chairman Sharon Lewis.
The committee met Monday evening at the Columbus Public Library to discuss ways to inform citizens throughout the county.
“We are contacting local utility companies asking them to put a note on their water, gas or electric bills to remind people about the 2010 census,” Lewis said.
Committee secretary Jo Shumake said the committee has been meeting since June, putting things together.
Audrey Swanigan, partnership assistant with the U. S. Census Bureau, said she is working to get the word out about the census to the schools.
“I am working with schools in the Columbus Municipal School District and the Lowndes County District. I have also been in contact with school districts in Webster, Choctaw, Oktibbeha and Clay counties,” she said.
Swanigan said Complete Count committees such as the one in Lowndes County are volunteer teams consisting of leaders in community organizations, faith-based groups, schools, businesses and media outlets.
“We have 11 representatives; six appointed by the Columbus City Council and five by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors,” Shumake said
She said they are also working with local churches to make sure pastors get out the necessary information to their members.
“The 2010 Census is important to our community, especially in terms of economic development,” she said.
People who wish to volunteer to be a part of this committee are encouraged to come to the next meeting at 5 p.m. Jan. 11 at the library.
“We want to have many people to help make a difference and make sure everyone gets counted,” Lewis said.
Next year marks the 2010 Census, and the Lowndes County Complete Count Committee is seeking volunteers to help better inform the public.
“A lot of people do not know what the Census is about, and we want to let people know how important it is to fill out the forms,” said Lowndes County Complete Count Committee chairman Sharon Lewis.
The committee met Monday evening at the Columbus Public Library to discuss ways to inform citizens throughout the county.
“We are contacting local utility companies asking them to put a note on their water, gas or electric bills to remind people about the 2010 census,” Lewis said.
Committee secretary Jo Shumake said the committee has been meeting since June, putting things together.
Audrey Swanigan, partnership assistant with the U. S. Census Bureau, said she is working to get the word out about the census to the schools.
“I am working with schools in the Columbus Municipal School District and the Lowndes County District. I have also been in contact with school districts in Webster, Choctaw, Oktibbeha and Clay counties,” she said.
Swanigan said Complete Count committees such as the one in Lowndes County are volunteer teams consisting of leaders in community organizations, faith-based groups, schools, businesses and media outlets.
“We have 11 representatives; six appointed by the Columbus City Council and five by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors,” Shumake said
She said they are also working with local churches to make sure pastors get out the necessary information to their members.
“The 2010 Census is important to our community, especially in terms of economic development,” she said.
People who wish to volunteer to be a part of this committee are encouraged to come to the next meeting at 5 p.m. Jan. 11 at the library.
“We want to have many people to help make a difference and make sure everyone gets counted,” Lewis said.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
More coastal info on Census jobs
From the Sun Herald...
Need a job? The U.S. Census Bureau might be able to help.
Census officials said Monday they plan to hire 2,000 part-time and full-time workers in South Mississippi.
“For the groundwork that will need to be done, this is the number we are focusing on,” said Kat A. Smith, media specialist with the bureau’s Dallas Regional Census Center.
Potential employees need not go to the Census Bureau office, which opening today in Gulfport.
Instead, those interested in a job should call 1-866-861-2010 to start the application process.
“The only way to get into the system is to call and get scheduled for the test,” she said. “The process is simple. Call the number and get on the list and take the test when scheduled.”
Testing will be arranged as lists of people to be tested are compiled, she said.
The Census Bureau plans to hire 1.4 million nationwide. “This region will seek to hire 111,000 individuals at peak,” Smith said. The Dallas region covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
South Mississippi census takers, called enumerators, will earn the highest pay in the state, $14.50 an hour.
Enumerators in Southhaven, Tupelo and Meridian will start at $10.50 per hour and in Jackson pay starts at $12.25 per hour, according to the Census Bureau’s Web site, www.2010census.gov.
Rates vary across the nation and many factors are considered in determining the base pay, Smith said.
Workers in nearby New Orleans will start at $17.50 per hour, according to the Web site.
The majority of workers will be hired to hand-deliver Census questionnaires to ensure an accurate 2010 count so the $400 billion in federal money available will be fairly distributed.
A sample test is available on the Web site, Smith said.
The Gulfport office at 14055 Seaway Blvd. will handle payroll and operations for all employees in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson, George, Stone and Pearl River counties, Smith said. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Need a job? The U.S. Census Bureau might be able to help.
Census officials said Monday they plan to hire 2,000 part-time and full-time workers in South Mississippi.
“For the groundwork that will need to be done, this is the number we are focusing on,” said Kat A. Smith, media specialist with the bureau’s Dallas Regional Census Center.
Potential employees need not go to the Census Bureau office, which opening today in Gulfport.
Instead, those interested in a job should call 1-866-861-2010 to start the application process.
“The only way to get into the system is to call and get scheduled for the test,” she said. “The process is simple. Call the number and get on the list and take the test when scheduled.”
Testing will be arranged as lists of people to be tested are compiled, she said.
The Census Bureau plans to hire 1.4 million nationwide. “This region will seek to hire 111,000 individuals at peak,” Smith said. The Dallas region covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
South Mississippi census takers, called enumerators, will earn the highest pay in the state, $14.50 an hour.
Enumerators in Southhaven, Tupelo and Meridian will start at $10.50 per hour and in Jackson pay starts at $12.25 per hour, according to the Census Bureau’s Web site, www.2010census.gov.
Rates vary across the nation and many factors are considered in determining the base pay, Smith said.
Workers in nearby New Orleans will start at $17.50 per hour, according to the Web site.
The majority of workers will be hired to hand-deliver Census questionnaires to ensure an accurate 2010 count so the $400 billion in federal money available will be fairly distributed.
A sample test is available on the Web site, Smith said.
The Gulfport office at 14055 Seaway Blvd. will handle payroll and operations for all employees in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson, George, Stone and Pearl River counties, Smith said. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Census 2010 topic of discussion in coastal areas
WLOX had two stories regarding the upcoming 2010 Census... Moss Point volunteers urge residents to be counted through their local Complete Count Committee...
Starting pay for Census takers in coastal areas highest in the state!
Starting pay for Census takers in coastal areas highest in the state!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Black residents want to be counted in 2010 Census
From : WLBT
JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - As the new year approaches some African American communities are worried they will not be counted in the 2010 census.
"We believe it is from 30-50% of black men are historically under counted. That's actually a disservice to the black community, but it's also a disservice to Mississippi," said Jackson Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba.
The People's Task Force led by Councilman Lumumba met Saturday for the Fair Count To Fair Share Census Initiative. According to the Census Bureau, Mississippi has the highest percentage of black residents of any state at 38%, but Fair Count to Fair Share organizers claim the numbers aren't accurate. They say the problems are census workers who have poor outreach methods in black communities and the people who don't feel comfortable sharing information.
"When people come in the neighborhood that they don't know, gathering information or attempting to gather information we are very reluctant to do that," said Akil Bakari with the People's Task Force.
Councilman Lumumba believes Jackson residents need to know that their information will be safe to make sure they are putting more resources into getting more counts of our communities," said Lumumba Bandele of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - As the new year approaches some African American communities are worried they will not be counted in the 2010 census.
"We believe it is from 30-50% of black men are historically under counted. That's actually a disservice to the black community, but it's also a disservice to Mississippi," said Jackson Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba.
The People's Task Force led by Councilman Lumumba met Saturday for the Fair Count To Fair Share Census Initiative. According to the Census Bureau, Mississippi has the highest percentage of black residents of any state at 38%, but Fair Count to Fair Share organizers claim the numbers aren't accurate. They say the problems are census workers who have poor outreach methods in black communities and the people who don't feel comfortable sharing information.
"When people come in the neighborhood that they don't know, gathering information or attempting to gather information we are very reluctant to do that," said Akil Bakari with the People's Task Force.
Councilman Lumumba believes Jackson residents need to know that their information will be safe to make sure they are putting more resources into getting more counts of our communities," said Lumumba Bandele of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Supervisors seeking Census volunteers
From the Sun Herald...
GULFPORT — Harrison County supervisors are looking for volunteers to serve on the Complete County Committee for the 2010 census.
Traycee Scott-Williams with the Census Bureau spoke to the board Monday and said she needs at least three volunteers from each district to serve on the committee.
The group will be made up of residents from civic groups, governments and churches and other organizations to help get the word out about the census.
“If we don’t get the word out, we won’t have an accurate count when we do the census,” she told the board.
Scott-Williams will hold a 45-minute training session Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Gulfport courthouse for the volunteers. The meeting will be held in the supervisors’ boardroom on the first floor.
The committee will develop and implement an outreach and awareness campaign to let residents in Harrison County know how important it is to fill out the census questionnaire.
Anyone interested in serving on the committee is asked to call 865-4116.
GULFPORT — Harrison County supervisors are looking for volunteers to serve on the Complete County Committee for the 2010 census.
Traycee Scott-Williams with the Census Bureau spoke to the board Monday and said she needs at least three volunteers from each district to serve on the committee.
The group will be made up of residents from civic groups, governments and churches and other organizations to help get the word out about the census.
“If we don’t get the word out, we won’t have an accurate count when we do the census,” she told the board.
Scott-Williams will hold a 45-minute training session Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Gulfport courthouse for the volunteers. The meeting will be held in the supervisors’ boardroom on the first floor.
The committee will develop and implement an outreach and awareness campaign to let residents in Harrison County know how important it is to fill out the census questionnaire.
Anyone interested in serving on the committee is asked to call 865-4116.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
MS Press writes about Census
The Mississippi Press has a story on what the Census numbers will show us...
Census measures students, poverty
Friday, November 27, 2009
By HARLAN KIRGAN
Some 19 percent of the student-aged population in Jackson and George counties comes from families in poverty, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on the nation's school districts.
The Census numbers point to an ongoing shift in the school population, said one Jackson County school superintendent.
The annual Census school district estimates are used as criteria for school funding by the U.S. Department of Education to implement the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Census counted 30,696 children ages 5 to 17 in the two counties in 2000. Of those, 5,080 children nearly 17 percent were in poverty. In 2008, the number of 5- to 17-year-olds dropped to 29,645 in the two counties, but the number of children in poverty rose to 5,607 or 19 percent.
The percentage of children living in poverty in 2008 ranged from nearly 27 percent in the Pascagoula School District to 11 percent in the Ocean Springs School District.
The Ocean Springs percentage is nearly double the 6 percent in 2000. Robert Hirsch, Ocean Springs superintendent, said even though the change in numbers is small, "they are big enough to make an impact."
In 2008, there were 563 youths living in poverty out of 4,939 students in the district, the Census reported. There were 307 out of 5,256 youths living in poverty in 2000.
"I've been in Ocean Springs 25 years," said Hirsch, "and I can honestly tell you that the demographics in Ocean Springs 25 years ago were very different than currently. We have more poverty, more immigrants."
Hirsch said all the school districts along the coast have experienced changes in their populations.
"Seven to eight years ago, we had zero homeless children," he said of the Ocean Springs district. "Over the last several years, we have had a number of homeless children show up."
The number of non-English-speaking students has grown during that period, he said.
"When I was principal of the high school, that was just four years ago, the entire school district had seven or eight ELL English language learners students. Now, we have more than 100 ELL kids."
By contrast, the percentage of youths in poverty in the Pascagoula School District has remained steady and the total number has declined. In 2000, there were 2,116 youths in poverty, which was 26 percent of the 8,162 youths in the district. In 2008, the census report estimated 2,039 youths, 26.5 percent, in poverty out of 7,674, according to the report.
Wayne Rodolfich, Pascagoula superintendent, said the Pascagoula district has six times the poverty of Ocean Springs.
"The way we really gauge it is by free or reduced lunches, and we are about 73 percent free and reduced lunch in our district," said Rodolfich. "And, we are about 60 percent minority and 40 percent white in the district."
The number of non-English-speaking students in the Pascagoula district has grown from about 150 before Hurricane Katrina to about 600, he said.
Rodolfich said the school district works to "equalize the playing field" for students.
"We believe all our children can learn."
A recent study found Pascagoula ranked second to last in the state in the number of college graduates.
"So, you have a smaller number of college-educated families in Pascagoula than in the rest of the state, but you look at our performance in algebra last year and we were one of the top-performing school districts on the Gulf Coast in algebra," he said.
The district employs programs such as home visits, Family Interactive Center, interactive learning activities such as the Wetlands Day and tutoring to augment classroom work, he said. A Backpack Buddies program ensures students have something to eat when they leave school, he said.
About 13 percent of the 5- to 17-year-olds in the Jackson County School District are counted in 2008 as coming from families in poverty by the Census. In 2000, the Census estimated that at 12 percent.
Barry Amacker, Jackson County superintendent, said there is a correlation between poverty and student achievement.
"Without even considering the poverty level, we work on the academics and hopefully it is addressing it no matter what income level they are coming from," he said.
Census measures students, poverty
Friday, November 27, 2009
By HARLAN KIRGAN
Some 19 percent of the student-aged population in Jackson and George counties comes from families in poverty, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on the nation's school districts.
The Census numbers point to an ongoing shift in the school population, said one Jackson County school superintendent.
The annual Census school district estimates are used as criteria for school funding by the U.S. Department of Education to implement the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Census counted 30,696 children ages 5 to 17 in the two counties in 2000. Of those, 5,080 children nearly 17 percent were in poverty. In 2008, the number of 5- to 17-year-olds dropped to 29,645 in the two counties, but the number of children in poverty rose to 5,607 or 19 percent.
The percentage of children living in poverty in 2008 ranged from nearly 27 percent in the Pascagoula School District to 11 percent in the Ocean Springs School District.
The Ocean Springs percentage is nearly double the 6 percent in 2000. Robert Hirsch, Ocean Springs superintendent, said even though the change in numbers is small, "they are big enough to make an impact."
In 2008, there were 563 youths living in poverty out of 4,939 students in the district, the Census reported. There were 307 out of 5,256 youths living in poverty in 2000.
"I've been in Ocean Springs 25 years," said Hirsch, "and I can honestly tell you that the demographics in Ocean Springs 25 years ago were very different than currently. We have more poverty, more immigrants."
Hirsch said all the school districts along the coast have experienced changes in their populations.
"Seven to eight years ago, we had zero homeless children," he said of the Ocean Springs district. "Over the last several years, we have had a number of homeless children show up."
The number of non-English-speaking students has grown during that period, he said.
"When I was principal of the high school, that was just four years ago, the entire school district had seven or eight ELL English language learners students. Now, we have more than 100 ELL kids."
By contrast, the percentage of youths in poverty in the Pascagoula School District has remained steady and the total number has declined. In 2000, there were 2,116 youths in poverty, which was 26 percent of the 8,162 youths in the district. In 2008, the census report estimated 2,039 youths, 26.5 percent, in poverty out of 7,674, according to the report.
Wayne Rodolfich, Pascagoula superintendent, said the Pascagoula district has six times the poverty of Ocean Springs.
"The way we really gauge it is by free or reduced lunches, and we are about 73 percent free and reduced lunch in our district," said Rodolfich. "And, we are about 60 percent minority and 40 percent white in the district."
The number of non-English-speaking students in the Pascagoula district has grown from about 150 before Hurricane Katrina to about 600, he said.
Rodolfich said the school district works to "equalize the playing field" for students.
"We believe all our children can learn."
A recent study found Pascagoula ranked second to last in the state in the number of college graduates.
"So, you have a smaller number of college-educated families in Pascagoula than in the rest of the state, but you look at our performance in algebra last year and we were one of the top-performing school districts on the Gulf Coast in algebra," he said.
The district employs programs such as home visits, Family Interactive Center, interactive learning activities such as the Wetlands Day and tutoring to augment classroom work, he said. A Backpack Buddies program ensures students have something to eat when they leave school, he said.
About 13 percent of the 5- to 17-year-olds in the Jackson County School District are counted in 2008 as coming from families in poverty by the Census. In 2000, the Census estimated that at 12 percent.
Barry Amacker, Jackson County superintendent, said there is a correlation between poverty and student achievement.
"Without even considering the poverty level, we work on the academics and hopefully it is addressing it no matter what income level they are coming from," he said.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Blast from the Past: Census 2000
From the Secretary of State's website, a historical look at where MS was just 10 years ago...
http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/ms.html
http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/ms.html
Monday, November 9, 2009
Mitchell: Illegals unwanted...until Census time rolls around
Illegal residents unwelcome, except in census years
By Charlie Mitchell
Mississippi doesn’t have enough residents living here illegally and will be penalized as a result.
Sound strange?
Well, it is.
Here’s the deal:
• In 2010, as directed by the nation’s founders, the federal government will conduct a headcount.
• The results of that headcount will be used for the ensuing decade to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states and to allocate all sorts of federal goodies that exist today and those to be created in years to come.
In a rational world, it would make sense, as part of the headcount, to tally citizens and noncitizens separately.
Charlie Mitchell is executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail.
That’s because the fundamental reason for ordaining a decennial census in the first place was to assure balanced representation of citizens (voters) in the nation’s largest lawmaking assembly. It was only later that census data also became the template for goodies. So it can’t make sense to include noncitizens (nonvoters) as having equal standing, can it?
That’s a point U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is trying to make — tossing in that including illegal residents of other states in the last census has already cost Mississippi one House seat.
“Following the 2000 census, Mississippi went from five seats to four in the House of Representatives,” Wicker said. “The Center for Immigration Studies stated in a 2003 report that this loss was due to the counting of illegal immigrants elsewhere in the country.”
Wicker, who formerly served in the House, isn’t interested in jumping on the overly emotionalized and overly generalized anti-immigration bandwagon. An important point to make is that we are a nation of immigrants. Anthropologists say even Native Americans came here from somewhere else. And lots of today’s noncitizens are in the country legally, working legally and with every right, under law, to do so.
So what Wicker is doing is joining with Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, to ask for a complete headcount, but with a separate tally of voting-eligible citizens to be used for House apportionment purposes.
Their effort will likely fall short for two reasons. One is that other states with more illegal residents can parlay their presence not only into a larger House delegation, but also an unfairly larger share of the approximately $400 billion in federal funding now being distributed to states each year based on census information. Second is that it’s politically incorrect or “stigmatizing” to ask a person if he or she is a U.S. citizen.
Be clear about how ridiculous this is: Under state and federal law, an employer who hires a noncitizen who is ineligible to work in the United States can be fined or sent to prison. However, census forms, already printed, contain no line to record citizenship information.
Wicker has some pretty compelling numbers. “Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows there are 298 million people currently living in the U.S., a number that includes 21 million noncitizens,” he said. The 21 million is an estimate, of course. The federal government demands to know about every penny of wages or other income people receive, but can only guess the number of people in the country without permission.
Anyway, the totals mean a House district would have approximately 635,000 voters or, if nonvoters are included, more than 685,000. States with high numbers of illegal immigrants — California, Nevada, Texas, and New York — stand to gain House seats. California, which has 5.7 million noncitizen residents, could gain five or more seats.
It’s unlikely Mississippi will lose another House seat in the coming reapportionment. However other lower-immigrant states, including Louisiana, are right on the cusp.
Wicker said he’s been told, sorry, but it would be too costly to reprint forms to ask about citizenship. At least his colleagues have enough sense to argue the process, not the point, because they have to know Wicker is absolutely correct. “It is unfair for Mississippi or any other state to be forced to cede influence and federal representation to other states that have high noncitizen populations, particularly those that harbor illegal immigrants,” he said.
The best estimates say Mississippi has about 30,000 residents who are in the United States illegally. There are those who say any is too many and, in fact, Mississippi politicians make hay every year by hawking legislation to “halt the flow.” Consider, however, that for every “illegal” here, there are nearly 200 in California.
Might is making right on this topic in Washington. States with big numbers of illegal residents complain about them, too, but find them mighty welcome during census years.
By Charlie Mitchell
Mississippi doesn’t have enough residents living here illegally and will be penalized as a result.
Sound strange?
Well, it is.
Here’s the deal:
• In 2010, as directed by the nation’s founders, the federal government will conduct a headcount.
• The results of that headcount will be used for the ensuing decade to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states and to allocate all sorts of federal goodies that exist today and those to be created in years to come.
In a rational world, it would make sense, as part of the headcount, to tally citizens and noncitizens separately.
Charlie Mitchell is executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail.
That’s because the fundamental reason for ordaining a decennial census in the first place was to assure balanced representation of citizens (voters) in the nation’s largest lawmaking assembly. It was only later that census data also became the template for goodies. So it can’t make sense to include noncitizens (nonvoters) as having equal standing, can it?
That’s a point U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is trying to make — tossing in that including illegal residents of other states in the last census has already cost Mississippi one House seat.
“Following the 2000 census, Mississippi went from five seats to four in the House of Representatives,” Wicker said. “The Center for Immigration Studies stated in a 2003 report that this loss was due to the counting of illegal immigrants elsewhere in the country.”
Wicker, who formerly served in the House, isn’t interested in jumping on the overly emotionalized and overly generalized anti-immigration bandwagon. An important point to make is that we are a nation of immigrants. Anthropologists say even Native Americans came here from somewhere else. And lots of today’s noncitizens are in the country legally, working legally and with every right, under law, to do so.
So what Wicker is doing is joining with Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, to ask for a complete headcount, but with a separate tally of voting-eligible citizens to be used for House apportionment purposes.
Their effort will likely fall short for two reasons. One is that other states with more illegal residents can parlay their presence not only into a larger House delegation, but also an unfairly larger share of the approximately $400 billion in federal funding now being distributed to states each year based on census information. Second is that it’s politically incorrect or “stigmatizing” to ask a person if he or she is a U.S. citizen.
Be clear about how ridiculous this is: Under state and federal law, an employer who hires a noncitizen who is ineligible to work in the United States can be fined or sent to prison. However, census forms, already printed, contain no line to record citizenship information.
Wicker has some pretty compelling numbers. “Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows there are 298 million people currently living in the U.S., a number that includes 21 million noncitizens,” he said. The 21 million is an estimate, of course. The federal government demands to know about every penny of wages or other income people receive, but can only guess the number of people in the country without permission.
Anyway, the totals mean a House district would have approximately 635,000 voters or, if nonvoters are included, more than 685,000. States with high numbers of illegal immigrants — California, Nevada, Texas, and New York — stand to gain House seats. California, which has 5.7 million noncitizen residents, could gain five or more seats.
It’s unlikely Mississippi will lose another House seat in the coming reapportionment. However other lower-immigrant states, including Louisiana, are right on the cusp.
Wicker said he’s been told, sorry, but it would be too costly to reprint forms to ask about citizenship. At least his colleagues have enough sense to argue the process, not the point, because they have to know Wicker is absolutely correct. “It is unfair for Mississippi or any other state to be forced to cede influence and federal representation to other states that have high noncitizen populations, particularly those that harbor illegal immigrants,” he said.
The best estimates say Mississippi has about 30,000 residents who are in the United States illegally. There are those who say any is too many and, in fact, Mississippi politicians make hay every year by hawking legislation to “halt the flow.” Consider, however, that for every “illegal” here, there are nearly 200 in California.
Might is making right on this topic in Washington. States with big numbers of illegal residents complain about them, too, but find them mighty welcome during census years.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Should everyone be counted in US Census? WLBT asks the question.
WLBT discusses the upcoming 2010 Census...
JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - The gathering Saturday at Capital City Alternative School aimed to inform people of all races and backgrounds why they should get counted in the Census.
The Mississippi Census Stakeholders' Alliance says some demographic groups are hard for Census takers to reach, whether by their own choice, or by the fault of the Census taker.
"Young people, communities in poverty, communities of color, especially black men are hard to count," says Leroy Johnson, Executive Director of Southern Echo, which co-sponsored the meeting.
Illegal immigrants may not answer their doors for fear of the government discovering them, says Alisha Johnson, Development Director for the Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance (MIRA).
"When the forms get to the home, whether or not they're understood, what is being required of me, what is gonna be done," are some of the worries immigrants have, she says.
There's conflict over whether non-U.S. citizens who live and work in this country should be counted.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker supports a bill that calls for a question on the Census: Are you or are you not a U.S. citizen?
"We ought to allocate our congressional seats, our electoral college based on the number of citizens that are there," Senator Wicker says.
But organizers at the Stakeholders' Alliance meeting disagree.
"I believe that wasn't the intention of the framers of the Constitution," Alisha Johnson says. "Everyone wants to talk about strict interpretation. I don't think that was the intention. At the time they wanted to count everybody."
A flyer given to attendees of the meeting teaches this: African Americans are in the third stage of domination and control by the white community. The first stage was slavery, the second stage was racial segregation, and the final stage is colonialism.
We asked an organizer what that "colonialism" means in this context.
"The way you treat people in this country as colonies inside other countries," Leroy Johnson says. "You deprive them of some of the things they need as part of their rights."
JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - The gathering Saturday at Capital City Alternative School aimed to inform people of all races and backgrounds why they should get counted in the Census.
The Mississippi Census Stakeholders' Alliance says some demographic groups are hard for Census takers to reach, whether by their own choice, or by the fault of the Census taker.
"Young people, communities in poverty, communities of color, especially black men are hard to count," says Leroy Johnson, Executive Director of Southern Echo, which co-sponsored the meeting.
Illegal immigrants may not answer their doors for fear of the government discovering them, says Alisha Johnson, Development Director for the Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance (MIRA).
"When the forms get to the home, whether or not they're understood, what is being required of me, what is gonna be done," are some of the worries immigrants have, she says.
There's conflict over whether non-U.S. citizens who live and work in this country should be counted.
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker supports a bill that calls for a question on the Census: Are you or are you not a U.S. citizen?
"We ought to allocate our congressional seats, our electoral college based on the number of citizens that are there," Senator Wicker says.
But organizers at the Stakeholders' Alliance meeting disagree.
"I believe that wasn't the intention of the framers of the Constitution," Alisha Johnson says. "Everyone wants to talk about strict interpretation. I don't think that was the intention. At the time they wanted to count everybody."
A flyer given to attendees of the meeting teaches this: African Americans are in the third stage of domination and control by the white community. The first stage was slavery, the second stage was racial segregation, and the final stage is colonialism.
We asked an organizer what that "colonialism" means in this context.
"The way you treat people in this country as colonies inside other countries," Leroy Johnson says. "You deprive them of some of the things they need as part of their rights."
Salter asks: Should the Census ask citizenship question?
Sid Salter writes in Sunday's Clarion Ledger about the current controversy regarding whether or not Census 2010 questionnaires should include a question about citizenship. What do you think?
From his column...
The notion that the Constitution guarantees representation in the U.S. House of Representatives to noncitizens is one that seems contradictory on its face.
That notion suggests that if a planeload of Russians lands in Attala County, they immediately become entitled to representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and that they should be counted by the Census Bureau in order to apportion Mississippi's congressional districts.
14th Amendment
Yet that's exactly what some constitutional scholars suggest to be the fact under the 14th Amendment and what they suggest is "settled law." George Mason University professor Michael P. McDonald, who studies the drawing of congressional districts, recently told The Washington Times newspaper that constitutional language is clear and that congressional seats must be allocated based on the total number of people - including illegal immigrants.
Every decade, the 435 seats in the House are divided among the states based on population. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution says (in part): "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed."
But should that number include noncitizen illegal immigrants?
In a Wall Street Journal essay in August, Louisiana State University constitutional law professor John S. Baker and Louisiana demographic analyst Elliott Stonecipher countered McDonald's assessment: "Next year's census will determine the apportionment of House members and Electoral College votes for each state. To accomplish these vital constitutional purposes, the enumeration should count only citizens and persons who are legal, permanent residents. But it won't. Instead, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to count all persons physically present in the country - including large numbers who are here illegally."
From his column...
The notion that the Constitution guarantees representation in the U.S. House of Representatives to noncitizens is one that seems contradictory on its face.
That notion suggests that if a planeload of Russians lands in Attala County, they immediately become entitled to representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and that they should be counted by the Census Bureau in order to apportion Mississippi's congressional districts.
14th Amendment
Yet that's exactly what some constitutional scholars suggest to be the fact under the 14th Amendment and what they suggest is "settled law." George Mason University professor Michael P. McDonald, who studies the drawing of congressional districts, recently told The Washington Times newspaper that constitutional language is clear and that congressional seats must be allocated based on the total number of people - including illegal immigrants.
Every decade, the 435 seats in the House are divided among the states based on population. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution says (in part): "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed."
But should that number include noncitizen illegal immigrants?
In a Wall Street Journal essay in August, Louisiana State University constitutional law professor John S. Baker and Louisiana demographic analyst Elliott Stonecipher countered McDonald's assessment: "Next year's census will determine the apportionment of House members and Electoral College votes for each state. To accomplish these vital constitutional purposes, the enumeration should count only citizens and persons who are legal, permanent residents. But it won't. Instead, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to count all persons physically present in the country - including large numbers who are here illegally."
Friday, October 30, 2009
Laurel Leader Call: Citizens warned of Census fraud
From the Laurel Leader Call:
It won’t be long before workers begin formulating the 2010 Census, and Laurel resident Susan Clanan wants the area’s citizens to be ready.
Clanan voiced her concerns this week about possible fraud involved in the process.
“I called the Mississippi Governor’s Office and they said a questionnaire would be coming through the mail,” she said. “You shouldn’t let census workers into your home.”
Clanan said she had a family member in Illinois who allowed someone into her home for the census.
“They asked all kinds of questions about her house,” she said. “There have even been instances where people posed as census workers. I want people to know that when the census comes around to not let anyone into their house. All they have to do is fill out what comes to them in the mail and send it back.”
Clanan noted that participating in the census is a requirement for all U.S. citizens.
“I just want to protect the seniors,” she said. “There’s no knocking on doors, sitting down in the living room and asking intimate questions about where you live.”
According to the Mississippi Governor’s Website, the Census “sometimes called ‘Uncle Sam’s Headcount,’ is essentially a count of every person living within the United States. Census data is utilized by a variety of public and private organizations and, most importantly, is used to determine the share of federal funding available to states based on their current population.”
For more information, visit www.governorbarbour.com/features/census2010.html
It won’t be long before workers begin formulating the 2010 Census, and Laurel resident Susan Clanan wants the area’s citizens to be ready.
Clanan voiced her concerns this week about possible fraud involved in the process.
“I called the Mississippi Governor’s Office and they said a questionnaire would be coming through the mail,” she said. “You shouldn’t let census workers into your home.”
Clanan said she had a family member in Illinois who allowed someone into her home for the census.
“They asked all kinds of questions about her house,” she said. “There have even been instances where people posed as census workers. I want people to know that when the census comes around to not let anyone into their house. All they have to do is fill out what comes to them in the mail and send it back.”
Clanan noted that participating in the census is a requirement for all U.S. citizens.
“I just want to protect the seniors,” she said. “There’s no knocking on doors, sitting down in the living room and asking intimate questions about where you live.”
According to the Mississippi Governor’s Website, the Census “sometimes called ‘Uncle Sam’s Headcount,’ is essentially a count of every person living within the United States. Census data is utilized by a variety of public and private organizations and, most importantly, is used to determine the share of federal funding available to states based on their current population.”
For more information, visit www.governorbarbour.com/features/census2010.html
NYTimes: Analysis of the Vitter Amendment
A Republican senator’s proposal to count only United States citizens when reapportioning Congress would cost California five seats and New York and Illinois one each, according to an independent analysis of census data released Tuesday. Texas, which is projected to gain three seats after the 2010 census, would get only one.
The proposed change would spare Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania the expected loss of one seat each. Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina would each gain a seat.
If every resident — citizens and noncitizens alike — is counted in 2010, as the Census Bureau usually does, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah would gain one seat each and Texas would get three, the analysis found.
Losing one seat each would be Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the analysis of census data through 2008 by demographers at Queens College of the City University of New York.
The Constitution, as amended, requires that Congressional districts be reapportioned on the basis of a count every 10 years of the “whole number of persons” in each state. The 10-question 2010 census form does not ask about citizenship, but the Census Bureau includes that question in other forms, including the 2006-8 American Community Survey released on Tuesday.
The proposed change would spare Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania the expected loss of one seat each. Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina would each gain a seat.
If every resident — citizens and noncitizens alike — is counted in 2010, as the Census Bureau usually does, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah would gain one seat each and Texas would get three, the analysis found.
Losing one seat each would be Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the analysis of census data through 2008 by demographers at Queens College of the City University of New York.
The Constitution, as amended, requires that Congressional districts be reapportioned on the basis of a count every 10 years of the “whole number of persons” in each state. The 10-question 2010 census form does not ask about citizenship, but the Census Bureau includes that question in other forms, including the 2006-8 American Community Survey released on Tuesday.
Census Bureau launches 2010Census.gov
2010 Census
Census Bureau Launches 2010Census.gov -- In an effort to reach all American residents to inform them about the importance of the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau unveils an improved Internet site. The site's goal is to build a national dialogue about how everyone's participation helps paint a new "Portrait of America." This is the start of a massive outreach campaign that will be steadily growing as Census Day -- April 1, 2010 -- approaches.
Census Bureau Launches 2010Census.gov -- In an effort to reach all American residents to inform them about the importance of the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau unveils an improved Internet site. The site's goal is to build a national dialogue about how everyone's participation helps paint a new "Portrait of America." This is the start of a massive outreach campaign that will be steadily growing as Census Day -- April 1, 2010 -- approaches.
Wicker: MS could lose a seat in Census 2010 reapportionment process
From WTOK:
Could Mississippi lose another seat in Congress? Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said it's a possibility.
Speaking to reporters in the state Thursday, Wicker said statistics from the 2000 Census showed states like California counted illegal immigrants as citizens. He said it could happen again, with even more illegal immigration during the past decade.
"When it comes to reapportionment of our Congressional seats, when it comes to deciding how the electoral college is going to be allocated, how many seats Mississippi will have in the House of Representatives, how many votes we will have in the presidential election every four years, we need to count citizens and citizens only," said Wicker.
Mississippi, Indiana, and Michigan lost a seat in Congress based on the 2000 Census.
Wicker is supporting a Senate amendment to add the question, "Are you a U.S. citizen?" to census forms that will go out in March 2010.
Wicker's press statement:
For Release Week of November 2, 2009
Contact: Jordan Stoick - (202) 224-6253
Report From Congress
By Senator Roger F. Wicker
WICKER: LACK OF CITIZENSHIP QUESTION ON CENSUS COULD HURT MISSISSIPPI
Senator Says Illegal Immigrants Elsewhere Could Cost State Funding, Congressional Representation
Many Mississippians are aware of next year's census, though few realize its results could have a negative impact on our state. Because of high concentrations of illegal immigrants in other states, Mississippi is at risk of losing a lot, including federal funding and one of our four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
This would not be the first time our state has been impacted negatively by the number of non-citizens living elsewhere in the country. Following the 2000 census, Mississippi went from five seats to four in the House of Representatives. The Center for Immigration Studies stated in a 2003 report that this loss was due to the counting of illegal immigrants elsewhere in the country during the last census.
Our Constitution requires a census be taken every 10 years to decide how the 435 seats of the House will be divided. The seats are split among all states in proportion to their population, meaning that if non-citizens are counted toward apportionment, a state with a high number of illegal immigrants stands to receive greater congressional representation than a state with fewer non-citizens.
States with a high number of non-citizens would also be given greater influence in presidential elections, as the Electoral College system is based on the size of a state's congressional delegation. The numbers collected from the census are also used to decide the annual distribution of approximately $400 billion in federal funding, which means critical funding to states and localities goes disproportionately to those areas with more non-citizen residents.
CITIZENSHIP QUESTION NEEDED
In order to get an accurate snapshot of our nation's population and demographic makeup, I believe next year's census should count everyone. However, I do not believe that illegal immigrants and other non-citizens should be considered when deciding how congressional seats and federal funding are divided amongst the states. The only way we can make this critical distinction is if the census asks a question about citizenship. Unfortunately, in its current form, next year's 10-question census does not do so.
I support an effort currently underway in Congress to add the question of citizenship to next year's census. The push, being led by Senators David Vitter of Louisiana and Robert Bennett of Utah, represents a common sense approach that would provide the information needed to restore confidence in how our census data is used.
Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows there are 298 million people currently living in the U.S., a number that includes 21 million non-citizens. According to Numbers USA, including illegal immigrants and non-citizens in the reapportionment process would have a huge impact in how House seats are divided. The group states: "Counting only U.S. citizens would result in [House] districts with approximately 635,000 people, whereby counting all individuals regardless of citizenship would create districts with more than 685,000. Therefore, the state of California that has 5.7 million non-citizen residents could gain five or more seats in the House."
Many estimates show that states with high numbers of illegal immigrants - like California, Nevada, Texas, and New York - stand to gain after next year's census. These potential gains would likely come at the expense of a handful of other states without high populations of illegals. In addition to Mississippi, Louisiana also falls in this category, meaning two states still working to recover from the worst natural disaster to hit our country are vulnerable to losing critical federal funding and representation in Congress.
COMMON SENSE REFORM
Opponents of the plan to add a citizenship question to next year's census claim that it would be too costly to reprint forms and that there is not enough time to do so before the count takes place next spring. I disagree and believe it is too important to wait another ten years before addressing this issue. As James Gill, a columnist with the New Orleans Times Picayune, said, "Only a government bureaucrat could claim that adding one simple question could cause such havoc and take so long." He added, "It shouldn't take months to figure out how to ask whether respondents are citizens of this country."
It is unfair for Mississippi or any other state to be forced to cede influence and federal representation to other states that have high non-citizen populations, particularly those that harbor illegal immigrants. We experienced this after the 2000 census, and we should not allow it to happen again.
Could Mississippi lose another seat in Congress? Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said it's a possibility.
Speaking to reporters in the state Thursday, Wicker said statistics from the 2000 Census showed states like California counted illegal immigrants as citizens. He said it could happen again, with even more illegal immigration during the past decade.
"When it comes to reapportionment of our Congressional seats, when it comes to deciding how the electoral college is going to be allocated, how many seats Mississippi will have in the House of Representatives, how many votes we will have in the presidential election every four years, we need to count citizens and citizens only," said Wicker.
Mississippi, Indiana, and Michigan lost a seat in Congress based on the 2000 Census.
Wicker is supporting a Senate amendment to add the question, "Are you a U.S. citizen?" to census forms that will go out in March 2010.
Wicker's press statement:
For Release Week of November 2, 2009
Contact: Jordan Stoick - (202) 224-6253
Report From Congress
By Senator Roger F. Wicker
WICKER: LACK OF CITIZENSHIP QUESTION ON CENSUS COULD HURT MISSISSIPPI
Senator Says Illegal Immigrants Elsewhere Could Cost State Funding, Congressional Representation
Many Mississippians are aware of next year's census, though few realize its results could have a negative impact on our state. Because of high concentrations of illegal immigrants in other states, Mississippi is at risk of losing a lot, including federal funding and one of our four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
This would not be the first time our state has been impacted negatively by the number of non-citizens living elsewhere in the country. Following the 2000 census, Mississippi went from five seats to four in the House of Representatives. The Center for Immigration Studies stated in a 2003 report that this loss was due to the counting of illegal immigrants elsewhere in the country during the last census.
Our Constitution requires a census be taken every 10 years to decide how the 435 seats of the House will be divided. The seats are split among all states in proportion to their population, meaning that if non-citizens are counted toward apportionment, a state with a high number of illegal immigrants stands to receive greater congressional representation than a state with fewer non-citizens.
States with a high number of non-citizens would also be given greater influence in presidential elections, as the Electoral College system is based on the size of a state's congressional delegation. The numbers collected from the census are also used to decide the annual distribution of approximately $400 billion in federal funding, which means critical funding to states and localities goes disproportionately to those areas with more non-citizen residents.
CITIZENSHIP QUESTION NEEDED
In order to get an accurate snapshot of our nation's population and demographic makeup, I believe next year's census should count everyone. However, I do not believe that illegal immigrants and other non-citizens should be considered when deciding how congressional seats and federal funding are divided amongst the states. The only way we can make this critical distinction is if the census asks a question about citizenship. Unfortunately, in its current form, next year's 10-question census does not do so.
I support an effort currently underway in Congress to add the question of citizenship to next year's census. The push, being led by Senators David Vitter of Louisiana and Robert Bennett of Utah, represents a common sense approach that would provide the information needed to restore confidence in how our census data is used.
Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows there are 298 million people currently living in the U.S., a number that includes 21 million non-citizens. According to Numbers USA, including illegal immigrants and non-citizens in the reapportionment process would have a huge impact in how House seats are divided. The group states: "Counting only U.S. citizens would result in [House] districts with approximately 635,000 people, whereby counting all individuals regardless of citizenship would create districts with more than 685,000. Therefore, the state of California that has 5.7 million non-citizen residents could gain five or more seats in the House."
Many estimates show that states with high numbers of illegal immigrants - like California, Nevada, Texas, and New York - stand to gain after next year's census. These potential gains would likely come at the expense of a handful of other states without high populations of illegals. In addition to Mississippi, Louisiana also falls in this category, meaning two states still working to recover from the worst natural disaster to hit our country are vulnerable to losing critical federal funding and representation in Congress.
COMMON SENSE REFORM
Opponents of the plan to add a citizenship question to next year's census claim that it would be too costly to reprint forms and that there is not enough time to do so before the count takes place next spring. I disagree and believe it is too important to wait another ten years before addressing this issue. As James Gill, a columnist with the New Orleans Times Picayune, said, "Only a government bureaucrat could claim that adding one simple question could cause such havoc and take so long." He added, "It shouldn't take months to figure out how to ask whether respondents are citizens of this country."
It is unfair for Mississippi or any other state to be forced to cede influence and federal representation to other states that have high non-citizen populations, particularly those that harbor illegal immigrants. We experienced this after the 2000 census, and we should not allow it to happen again.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Tension awaits as Legislature anticipates Census 2010 results
A snippet from the DeSoto Time Tribune, a local paper in one of the fastest, if not THE fastest, growing counties in MS. Will be interesting to see how redistricting affects this area...
Little of the same redistricting tension that surrounded the 2000 population census exists now as the Legislature awaits figures of the 2010 census. But that is not to say some angry partisan arm-wrestling — Democrat against Republican — over legislative redistricting won’t break out in the 2011 session.
A few things of consequence to Mississippi are known in advance of the 2010 census: One, though the state’s growth the past decade has been slow (less than 1 percent a year) it is not enough to cause the state to lose a U.S. House seat as it did in 2000; another, that since Mississippi elects officials in off-years, it will be one of the first three states to get the official census figures.
Assuming they will get census figures by March, 2011, lawmakers hope to start early on redistricting the 174 seats in the Legislature, a job that in 2002 wasn’t finished in regular session and required a special session. What clouded the 2002 session, however, was the explosive issue of having to remap the state’s five Congressional districts into four.
Little of the same redistricting tension that surrounded the 2000 population census exists now as the Legislature awaits figures of the 2010 census. But that is not to say some angry partisan arm-wrestling — Democrat against Republican — over legislative redistricting won’t break out in the 2011 session.
A few things of consequence to Mississippi are known in advance of the 2010 census: One, though the state’s growth the past decade has been slow (less than 1 percent a year) it is not enough to cause the state to lose a U.S. House seat as it did in 2000; another, that since Mississippi elects officials in off-years, it will be one of the first three states to get the official census figures.
Assuming they will get census figures by March, 2011, lawmakers hope to start early on redistricting the 174 seats in the Legislature, a job that in 2002 wasn’t finished in regular session and required a special session. What clouded the 2002 session, however, was the explosive issue of having to remap the state’s five Congressional districts into four.
Monday, October 5, 2009
CL: Census Bureau faces challenge with Gulf Coast count, plans special effort for accuracy
U.S. census plans special effort for the Gulf Coast - even four years later, Katrina's effects still felt
WASHINGTON — Harold Toussaint evacuated first to Tennessee, then to Georgia, then to New York City after Hurricane Katrina left his rental house in New Orleans under 5 feet of water in 2005.
Like other hurricane victims, Toussaint says he plans to return soon to New Orleans. And that's where he wants the 2010 U.S. census to count him.
"It's our home," said Toussaint, 59, who has lived in Harlem for two years. "We want to be recognized as New Orleanians. It just breaks our hearts to be deprived of it and our connection."
Which city Toussaint calls home next April is at the heart of a debate over how displaced Gulf Coast residents should be counted in the 2010 census, less than six months away.
Much is at stake for communities devastated by the hurricanes and those in other states where thousands of storm victims fled. The census conducts a major population count every 10 years in addition to other, smaller counts, and results determine congressional seats and federal funding for such things as free school lunches and highway projects.
Next year, in an effort to better count Gulf Coast residents, census officials will hand-deliver more than 300,000 questionnaires to areas in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas that suffered heavy hurricane damage. The questionnaires will be mailed to people in the rest of the country.
"We're going to every address and dropping off the questionnaire because, quite reasonably, the residents there are saying, 'Well, the addresses where people were living ... are not going to be there,' " Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said.
WASHINGTON — Harold Toussaint evacuated first to Tennessee, then to Georgia, then to New York City after Hurricane Katrina left his rental house in New Orleans under 5 feet of water in 2005.
Like other hurricane victims, Toussaint says he plans to return soon to New Orleans. And that's where he wants the 2010 U.S. census to count him.
"It's our home," said Toussaint, 59, who has lived in Harlem for two years. "We want to be recognized as New Orleanians. It just breaks our hearts to be deprived of it and our connection."
Which city Toussaint calls home next April is at the heart of a debate over how displaced Gulf Coast residents should be counted in the 2010 census, less than six months away.
Much is at stake for communities devastated by the hurricanes and those in other states where thousands of storm victims fled. The census conducts a major population count every 10 years in addition to other, smaller counts, and results determine congressional seats and federal funding for such things as free school lunches and highway projects.
Next year, in an effort to better count Gulf Coast residents, census officials will hand-deliver more than 300,000 questionnaires to areas in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas that suffered heavy hurricane damage. The questionnaires will be mailed to people in the rest of the country.
"We're going to every address and dropping off the questionnaire because, quite reasonably, the residents there are saying, 'Well, the addresses where people were living ... are not going to be there,' " Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Barbour video: We Count, Mississippi
Gov. Barbour urges Mississippians to participate in the upcoming 2010 Census. See the video
Friday, September 18, 2009
Suit seeks larger Congress
Suit seeks larger Congress, reports Clarion Ledger
OXFORD - If a federal complaint filed here on Thursday is successful, the U.S. House of Representatives could drastically increase to give Mississippi and other states more representation, but at a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers.
Oxford native John Tyler Clemons filed the suit with registered voters from Montana, South Dakota, Delaware and Utah. Defendants are the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke; Robert Groves, director of the Census Bureau; and Lorraine Miller, clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The lawsuit comes as promotional plans are in the works for the upcoming census. Census Day is April 1, 2010.
In the last census count, in 2000, Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat because its pace of growth didn't match that of other states, according to the census.
According to the lawsuit, Mississippi is under represented by 10.24 percent. For example, there are four districts each averaging 713,232 persons in Mississippi, while West Virginia has three districts averaging 604,359 persons.
"This under representation violates the constitutional standards for one-person, one-vote," the lawsuit, filed by Washington-based attorney Michael Farris, argues.
The number of representatives in the House currently is fixed at 435.
Two proposed apportionment plans based on the 2000 census are suggested in the lawsuit. Both would change the "ideal" size of a district from 646,952 people to either 159,809 or 301,957 people. Plan A would make the current number of representatives 1,761; while Plan B would increase the number of representatives to 932.
Clemons, a University of Mississippi student and former editor of the school newspaper, said he wants to fight for the under represented people in his state.
"Our Constitution was crafted around the idea that all citizens deserve an equal voice in the decisions of their government," Clemons said. "... If someone's vote in Iowa or Wyoming counts for more than mine, how is that equality?"
A spokesperson for the clerk of the U.S. House said his office had received the complaint, but would not comment on it.
Spokesmen for the Bureau of Census and the Department of Commerce did not return calls for comment.
Some, including 3rd District Republican Rep. Gregg Harper of Pearl, think the restructuring would cost too much money.
With rank-and-file members earning $174,000 per year, taxpayers pay more than $75 million per year total in salaries. If there were 932 congressmen, the overall amount would increase to more than $162 million. If there were 1,761 representatives, the total taxpayer cost could be more than $300 million.
"Clearly, this concept would greatly increase the size and cost of our federal government at a time when we should be reducing spending," Harper said.
But Scott Scharpen, who spearheaded the suit, suggests each representative has too many staff members. By reducing the size of staffs, money could be opened up for more representatives, he said.
Scharpen also said earmarks would be harder to get if there were more districts, making more money available for representatives' salaries.
Ole Miss constitutional law professor George Cochran calls the suit "innovative," but questions how successful it will be.
"I'm not sure the right defendants are being sued," Cochran said. "There are a lot of procedural hurdles that could lead to a dismissal."
Cochran said he wasn't sure who the right defendant would be until he did more research. He said, however, the federal courts may not want to make a ruling on this case because typically the judicial branch cannot tell the legislative what to do and vice-versa.
It would be like a federal judge ruling the war in Iraq is unconstitutional, Cochran said. "That's just not going to happen," he said.
Cochran also believes the court would take into consideration the cost, as well as how difficult the restructuring would be if the lawsuit were successful.
Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute, also doesn't think the lawsuit will prevail. He said Congress would be unlikely to support adding more districts because it would decrease representatives' power.
Ornstein said the congressional system, unlike a Parliamentary system, is built so representatives can have face time with their constituents, and if you added more districts, face time would be much harder.
"On the other hand, with these dramatic disparities, we might need to think of other ways (to obtain) one-person, one vote. ... Maybe by adding at-large seats," Ornstein said.
Although a census is done every 10 years to reappropriate congressional seats, it doesn't add more than the 435 seats allowed. Scharpen said, as areas become more populated they should add more seats to Congress.
"If this lawsuit is successful," Scharpen said in the release, "the court will require an increase in House membership to achieve appropriate voter equality across America, and bring about perhaps the most significant change in the federal government structure in nearly a century."
OXFORD - If a federal complaint filed here on Thursday is successful, the U.S. House of Representatives could drastically increase to give Mississippi and other states more representation, but at a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers.
Oxford native John Tyler Clemons filed the suit with registered voters from Montana, South Dakota, Delaware and Utah. Defendants are the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke; Robert Groves, director of the Census Bureau; and Lorraine Miller, clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The lawsuit comes as promotional plans are in the works for the upcoming census. Census Day is April 1, 2010.
In the last census count, in 2000, Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat because its pace of growth didn't match that of other states, according to the census.
According to the lawsuit, Mississippi is under represented by 10.24 percent. For example, there are four districts each averaging 713,232 persons in Mississippi, while West Virginia has three districts averaging 604,359 persons.
"This under representation violates the constitutional standards for one-person, one-vote," the lawsuit, filed by Washington-based attorney Michael Farris, argues.
The number of representatives in the House currently is fixed at 435.
Two proposed apportionment plans based on the 2000 census are suggested in the lawsuit. Both would change the "ideal" size of a district from 646,952 people to either 159,809 or 301,957 people. Plan A would make the current number of representatives 1,761; while Plan B would increase the number of representatives to 932.
Clemons, a University of Mississippi student and former editor of the school newspaper, said he wants to fight for the under represented people in his state.
"Our Constitution was crafted around the idea that all citizens deserve an equal voice in the decisions of their government," Clemons said. "... If someone's vote in Iowa or Wyoming counts for more than mine, how is that equality?"
A spokesperson for the clerk of the U.S. House said his office had received the complaint, but would not comment on it.
Spokesmen for the Bureau of Census and the Department of Commerce did not return calls for comment.
Some, including 3rd District Republican Rep. Gregg Harper of Pearl, think the restructuring would cost too much money.
With rank-and-file members earning $174,000 per year, taxpayers pay more than $75 million per year total in salaries. If there were 932 congressmen, the overall amount would increase to more than $162 million. If there were 1,761 representatives, the total taxpayer cost could be more than $300 million.
"Clearly, this concept would greatly increase the size and cost of our federal government at a time when we should be reducing spending," Harper said.
But Scott Scharpen, who spearheaded the suit, suggests each representative has too many staff members. By reducing the size of staffs, money could be opened up for more representatives, he said.
Scharpen also said earmarks would be harder to get if there were more districts, making more money available for representatives' salaries.
Ole Miss constitutional law professor George Cochran calls the suit "innovative," but questions how successful it will be.
"I'm not sure the right defendants are being sued," Cochran said. "There are a lot of procedural hurdles that could lead to a dismissal."
Cochran said he wasn't sure who the right defendant would be until he did more research. He said, however, the federal courts may not want to make a ruling on this case because typically the judicial branch cannot tell the legislative what to do and vice-versa.
It would be like a federal judge ruling the war in Iraq is unconstitutional, Cochran said. "That's just not going to happen," he said.
Cochran also believes the court would take into consideration the cost, as well as how difficult the restructuring would be if the lawsuit were successful.
Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute, also doesn't think the lawsuit will prevail. He said Congress would be unlikely to support adding more districts because it would decrease representatives' power.
Ornstein said the congressional system, unlike a Parliamentary system, is built so representatives can have face time with their constituents, and if you added more districts, face time would be much harder.
"On the other hand, with these dramatic disparities, we might need to think of other ways (to obtain) one-person, one vote. ... Maybe by adding at-large seats," Ornstein said.
Although a census is done every 10 years to reappropriate congressional seats, it doesn't add more than the 435 seats allowed. Scharpen said, as areas become more populated they should add more seats to Congress.
"If this lawsuit is successful," Scharpen said in the release, "the court will require an increase in House membership to achieve appropriate voter equality across America, and bring about perhaps the most significant change in the federal government structure in nearly a century."
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Swing State Project - Potential African American majority Congressional Districts in MS
Check out our fellow bloggers at Swing State Project and their projections for the upcoming 2010 Census...
"When Congressional districts are redistricted after the 2010 Census, it will be possible to redistrict both the States of Alabama and Mississippi so that each has an additional reasonably compact Black majority congressional district. As you can see in the table below, Alabama most definitely has a high enough African American population for 2 of its 7 Congressional districts to be Black opportunity districts. Anything less than that would pretty clearly constitute the dilution of Black voting power in Alabama. Mississippi is a closer case, but between 2000 and the 2010 census, it will have passed the point at which it is more proportional to have 2 African American opportunity districts than to have only 1. It is also less of a sure thing that two African American Representatives could actually be elected, because the Black majorities in the two African American districts cannot be too large..."
"When Congressional districts are redistricted after the 2010 Census, it will be possible to redistrict both the States of Alabama and Mississippi so that each has an additional reasonably compact Black majority congressional district. As you can see in the table below, Alabama most definitely has a high enough African American population for 2 of its 7 Congressional districts to be Black opportunity districts. Anything less than that would pretty clearly constitute the dilution of Black voting power in Alabama. Mississippi is a closer case, but between 2000 and the 2010 census, it will have passed the point at which it is more proportional to have 2 African American opportunity districts than to have only 1. It is also less of a sure thing that two African American Representatives could actually be elected, because the Black majorities in the two African American districts cannot be too large..."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Census to put special care into count for coastal region
From the Clarion Ledger:
GULFPORT — The U.S. Census Bureau will hand deliver questionnaires to residents in areas of Harrison, Hancock and Jackson counties most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
The Census Bureau isn't pinpointing the communities, streets or blocks where the deliveries will be made.
Questionnaires go out in late March and should be delivered nationwide by April 1, known as Census Day.
Kat Smith, spokesman at the Dallas Regional Census Center, says residents who use post office boxes for their mail will be notified where they can pick up their questionnaires.
Jackson County Supervisor Melton Harris, whose supervisor's district includes parts of Pascagoula and Moss Point, said there also are concerns the region could lose federal funding.
"The effort is a good one, to make sure everyone gets counted," he said. "There should be a full-scale effort to do a real good count this time. We lost a Congressional seat because of the count in 2000."
Census rules require that people be counted in their homes on Census Day. Congress has not changed the law to reflect situations such as people affected by Katrina who live elsewhere while rebuilding.
Harris said there are a number of people who claim residency in one city but are living temporarily in another city because of the shortage of available affordable housing.
Census workers are expected to also hand-deliver about 300,000 questionnaires to homes in Louisiana affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and parts of Galveston Island, Texas, hit by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
GULFPORT — The U.S. Census Bureau will hand deliver questionnaires to residents in areas of Harrison, Hancock and Jackson counties most devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
The Census Bureau isn't pinpointing the communities, streets or blocks where the deliveries will be made.
Questionnaires go out in late March and should be delivered nationwide by April 1, known as Census Day.
Kat Smith, spokesman at the Dallas Regional Census Center, says residents who use post office boxes for their mail will be notified where they can pick up their questionnaires.
Jackson County Supervisor Melton Harris, whose supervisor's district includes parts of Pascagoula and Moss Point, said there also are concerns the region could lose federal funding.
"The effort is a good one, to make sure everyone gets counted," he said. "There should be a full-scale effort to do a real good count this time. We lost a Congressional seat because of the count in 2000."
Census rules require that people be counted in their homes on Census Day. Congress has not changed the law to reflect situations such as people affected by Katrina who live elsewhere while rebuilding.
Harris said there are a number of people who claim residency in one city but are living temporarily in another city because of the shortage of available affordable housing.
Census workers are expected to also hand-deliver about 300,000 questionnaires to homes in Louisiana affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and parts of Galveston Island, Texas, hit by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Daily Journal opines on future redistricting fight
Bobby Harrison of the Daily Journal writes about what the future holds in terms of redistricting in MS. Will there be a fight? We'll see in 2011...
JACKSON - Most likely, in early 2011 the Mississippi Legislature will get the state's population data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It will outline what areas of the state have increased population and what areas have lost population.
Then the Legislature must act quickly to redraw the state's 122 House and 52 Senate districts in time to get U.S. Justice Department approval of a redistricting plan before June 1, the qualifying deadline for legislative candidates.
In other words, the Legislature will be acting on a tight time frame to get the districts redrawn in time for the 2011 elections, which will consist of August party primaries and the November general election.
Every other decade, Mississippi faces this problem - the legislative elections occur a year after the Census, meaning the Legislature has little time to reach agreement and put in place new legislative districts.
In 1991, the Legislature did not make it. Racial politics, a speaker's race and other factors prevented the Legislature from reaching agreement. The issue ended up in federal court and with legislators running in 1991 under the old districts and again in 1992 under the new districts.
Legislators will try to avoid the back-to-back elections this time around, but there are no guarantees.
Federal law and court rulings require legislative districts - on the local, state and national levels - to be close to equal in population. Gone are the days when a state House member represented tens of thousands of people in a metro area while a colleague might represented only a few thousand in a rural area.
Under that scenario, the rural population was receiving more representation than urban citizens.
Federal law adheres to the principle of one man, one vote. And in reality, it is one of the most important concepts of our representative democracy.
It is important enough that in 1991, a federal judicial panel said the Legislature could not serve even one four-year term under the old, outdated, unequal district lines. The Legislature served one year under the old lines and had to run again next year.
For a politician, having to run back-to-back years for the same seat has to be a type of electoral purgatory.
If legislators want to avoid that in 2011, they will have to act quickly. After the Legislature adopts a redistricting plan, it also must gain approval of the Justice Department. That can take several weeks.
No doubt, in 2011 there will be a speaker's race just as there was in 1991. In 1991, incumbent Speaker Tim Ford of Baldwyn was being challenged by Ed Perry of Oxford.
After the 2007 campaign, Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, re-captured the speaker's post by a slim 63-61 margin. Whether McCoy runs or not in 2011, there will be a speaker's race under way when the redistricting process occurs.
That speaker's race could impact the redrawing of the districts lines just as it did in 1991.
The difference is that in 1991 the disagreement broke down, generally speaking, along geographic and urban vs. rural lines, even within the Black Caucus. This time, the divide will most likely will break down along party lines.
Over in the Senate, in 2007 then Lt. Gov.-elect Phil Bryant met with Senate Democrats, who hold a slim majority, and promised not to try to use redistricting as a tool to increase Republican numbers in the Senate. In turn, Democrats promised not to wage what could have been a messy rules fight to try to strip some of the lieutenant governor's Senate powers.
In the past, the leaders of the respective chambers have drawn and gotten approved the redistricting plan for their chamber and it was rubber-stamped by the other chamber. The governor has no official responsibility in the process.
But with a rise in partisan politics in the state, will the Senate try to block the House plan or vice versa? Will Gov. Haley Barbour use his considerable influence over the Senate to try to block the House plan?
If that happens, look for the issue to end up in court again with legislators running in 2011 and 2012.
JACKSON - Most likely, in early 2011 the Mississippi Legislature will get the state's population data from the U.S. Census Bureau. It will outline what areas of the state have increased population and what areas have lost population.
Then the Legislature must act quickly to redraw the state's 122 House and 52 Senate districts in time to get U.S. Justice Department approval of a redistricting plan before June 1, the qualifying deadline for legislative candidates.
In other words, the Legislature will be acting on a tight time frame to get the districts redrawn in time for the 2011 elections, which will consist of August party primaries and the November general election.
Every other decade, Mississippi faces this problem - the legislative elections occur a year after the Census, meaning the Legislature has little time to reach agreement and put in place new legislative districts.
In 1991, the Legislature did not make it. Racial politics, a speaker's race and other factors prevented the Legislature from reaching agreement. The issue ended up in federal court and with legislators running in 1991 under the old districts and again in 1992 under the new districts.
Legislators will try to avoid the back-to-back elections this time around, but there are no guarantees.
Federal law and court rulings require legislative districts - on the local, state and national levels - to be close to equal in population. Gone are the days when a state House member represented tens of thousands of people in a metro area while a colleague might represented only a few thousand in a rural area.
Under that scenario, the rural population was receiving more representation than urban citizens.
Federal law adheres to the principle of one man, one vote. And in reality, it is one of the most important concepts of our representative democracy.
It is important enough that in 1991, a federal judicial panel said the Legislature could not serve even one four-year term under the old, outdated, unequal district lines. The Legislature served one year under the old lines and had to run again next year.
For a politician, having to run back-to-back years for the same seat has to be a type of electoral purgatory.
If legislators want to avoid that in 2011, they will have to act quickly. After the Legislature adopts a redistricting plan, it also must gain approval of the Justice Department. That can take several weeks.
No doubt, in 2011 there will be a speaker's race just as there was in 1991. In 1991, incumbent Speaker Tim Ford of Baldwyn was being challenged by Ed Perry of Oxford.
After the 2007 campaign, Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, re-captured the speaker's post by a slim 63-61 margin. Whether McCoy runs or not in 2011, there will be a speaker's race under way when the redistricting process occurs.
That speaker's race could impact the redrawing of the districts lines just as it did in 1991.
The difference is that in 1991 the disagreement broke down, generally speaking, along geographic and urban vs. rural lines, even within the Black Caucus. This time, the divide will most likely will break down along party lines.
Over in the Senate, in 2007 then Lt. Gov.-elect Phil Bryant met with Senate Democrats, who hold a slim majority, and promised not to try to use redistricting as a tool to increase Republican numbers in the Senate. In turn, Democrats promised not to wage what could have been a messy rules fight to try to strip some of the lieutenant governor's Senate powers.
In the past, the leaders of the respective chambers have drawn and gotten approved the redistricting plan for their chamber and it was rubber-stamped by the other chamber. The governor has no official responsibility in the process.
But with a rise in partisan politics in the state, will the Senate try to block the House plan or vice versa? Will Gov. Haley Barbour use his considerable influence over the Senate to try to block the House plan?
If that happens, look for the issue to end up in court again with legislators running in 2011 and 2012.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Katrina hits Gulf Coast Census
Four years after Katrina and population counts are still a worry for coastal leaders. Read the Clarion Ledger's take on the issue.
Katrina hits Gulf Coast census
Population loss puts dollars, political clout in jeopardy
Gulf Coast cities hit hard by Hurricane Katrina four years ago stand to lose future federal funding, and possibly some political representation, as mostly lower-income residents stay away from the area, analysts say.
Harrison and Hancock counties in particular could lose federal grants for everything from education to health care to housing if the 2010 census count shows numbers significantly below pre-Katrina levels, said Judith Phillips, a research analyst for the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.
Census data taken since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm shows people are returning to the Coast. But population levels are not what they were before the hurricane leveled the area.
Hancock County has lost 6,700 people, Phillips said. Harrison County's population has declined by 17,000, census figures show.
"People who have not returned are low income," she said. "That is going to end up negatively impacting the formula that affects (Housing and Urban Development) and housing money."
Local officials are looking for ways to make sure as many residents as possible are counted, a task that may be challenging because lower-income residents are less likely to respond to surveys.
In Gulfport, officials are turning to the social networking site Facebook to help coordinate census efforts. Meetings are planned in Biloxi and Waveland to decide the best strategy for an accurate count.
Waveland Mayor Tommy Longo said his city's door-to-door survey shows the area has changed significantly in population and demographics since Katrina.
"It's very important to us that we get a good, accurate count," he said last week.
Enrollment at Biloxi public schools is still 20 percent off its pre-Katrina level of 6,100, officials said.
Civil rights groups are urging census officials not to overlook displaced hurricane victims when they conduct their 2010 count on the Coast.
The groups, including national organizations and some from the Gulf Coast, want Congress to hold a field hearing on the Coast to examine hurdles to an accurate count.
They also want census officials to appoint someone to coordinate the count and to conduct a special census in 2011 or 2012.
An undercount would be "one more devastating blow" to the Gulf Coast, according to Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
The Census Bureau conducts a major count every 10 years of people living in the United States, in addition to other, smaller counts. Census data is used for everything from distributing nearly $400 billion in federal funding to determining the number of congressional seats allocated to each state.
"The stakes for this census are extremely high, especially along the Gulf Coast," Henderson said.
Bay St. Louis business owner Dwight Isaacs said he fears of another monster storm and the high cost of insurance keeps people from returning to the Coast.
"They're scared, and that's understandable," he said, adding his post-Katrina mortgage payment has doubled because of insurance costs.
"It's just really hard to live and work here. Everything's so expensive," said Isaacs, who is closing his gift shop in the city's Old Town.
Businesses now face insurance costs of "anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 a year," he said.
Phillips said the Coast's rising unemployment rate could offset the decline in population and result in a less severe funding loss.
But lower population levels also could cause the Coast to lose "a seat or two" in the state Legislature, said Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute.
He suggested the area count as many residents as possible.
But Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Tupelo, said he opposes counting illegal immigrants.
"If someone breaks the law and has entered our country illegally, they should not be counted," he said.
But Wiseman said, "It would be wise, if the Coast wants to keep its legislative seats, to count everybody. (Hispanic residents) may be the very thing that saves the Coast."
Katrina hits Gulf Coast census
Population loss puts dollars, political clout in jeopardy
Gulf Coast cities hit hard by Hurricane Katrina four years ago stand to lose future federal funding, and possibly some political representation, as mostly lower-income residents stay away from the area, analysts say.
Harrison and Hancock counties in particular could lose federal grants for everything from education to health care to housing if the 2010 census count shows numbers significantly below pre-Katrina levels, said Judith Phillips, a research analyst for the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.
Census data taken since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm shows people are returning to the Coast. But population levels are not what they were before the hurricane leveled the area.
Hancock County has lost 6,700 people, Phillips said. Harrison County's population has declined by 17,000, census figures show.
"People who have not returned are low income," she said. "That is going to end up negatively impacting the formula that affects (Housing and Urban Development) and housing money."
Local officials are looking for ways to make sure as many residents as possible are counted, a task that may be challenging because lower-income residents are less likely to respond to surveys.
In Gulfport, officials are turning to the social networking site Facebook to help coordinate census efforts. Meetings are planned in Biloxi and Waveland to decide the best strategy for an accurate count.
Waveland Mayor Tommy Longo said his city's door-to-door survey shows the area has changed significantly in population and demographics since Katrina.
"It's very important to us that we get a good, accurate count," he said last week.
Enrollment at Biloxi public schools is still 20 percent off its pre-Katrina level of 6,100, officials said.
Civil rights groups are urging census officials not to overlook displaced hurricane victims when they conduct their 2010 count on the Coast.
The groups, including national organizations and some from the Gulf Coast, want Congress to hold a field hearing on the Coast to examine hurdles to an accurate count.
They also want census officials to appoint someone to coordinate the count and to conduct a special census in 2011 or 2012.
An undercount would be "one more devastating blow" to the Gulf Coast, according to Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.
The Census Bureau conducts a major count every 10 years of people living in the United States, in addition to other, smaller counts. Census data is used for everything from distributing nearly $400 billion in federal funding to determining the number of congressional seats allocated to each state.
"The stakes for this census are extremely high, especially along the Gulf Coast," Henderson said.
Bay St. Louis business owner Dwight Isaacs said he fears of another monster storm and the high cost of insurance keeps people from returning to the Coast.
"They're scared, and that's understandable," he said, adding his post-Katrina mortgage payment has doubled because of insurance costs.
"It's just really hard to live and work here. Everything's so expensive," said Isaacs, who is closing his gift shop in the city's Old Town.
Businesses now face insurance costs of "anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 a year," he said.
Phillips said the Coast's rising unemployment rate could offset the decline in population and result in a less severe funding loss.
But lower population levels also could cause the Coast to lose "a seat or two" in the state Legislature, said Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute.
He suggested the area count as many residents as possible.
But Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Tupelo, said he opposes counting illegal immigrants.
"If someone breaks the law and has entered our country illegally, they should not be counted," he said.
But Wiseman said, "It would be wise, if the Coast wants to keep its legislative seats, to count everybody. (Hispanic residents) may be the very thing that saves the Coast."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Group seeks special census for Gulf Coast region
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A national civil rights coalition wants Congress to authorize a special census for certain Gulf Coast communities that will be recovering from Hurricane Katrina when the traditional Census is taken next year.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights notes that people are still returning to the region and that federal recovery aid is still flowing four years after Katrina.
The group in a report Monday urges Congress to evaluate the status of Gulf Coast recovery after the 2010 Census to see which communities should be included in a special census in 2012 or 2013.
The group says a special census would allow for any big population shifts to be reflected in the allocation of funds for certain state and federal programs that use Census data.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights notes that people are still returning to the region and that federal recovery aid is still flowing four years after Katrina.
The group in a report Monday urges Congress to evaluate the status of Gulf Coast recovery after the 2010 Census to see which communities should be included in a special census in 2012 or 2013.
The group says a special census would allow for any big population shifts to be reflected in the allocation of funds for certain state and federal programs that use Census data.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wicker "completely opposed" to counting illegal aliens in 2010 Census
WTOK reports on Sen. Wicker's stance on counting illegal aliens in Census 2010:
Every decade, the U.S. Census is mailed to households nationwide. It helps the government make important decisions. But this time around, it's causing some controversy.
The roads you drive on are just one of the services that census dollars can fund. And as the clock counts down to census day, it ought to be an accurate count.
There's controversy brewing over who the census counts.
"I am completely opposed to counting illegal immigrants, illegal aliens in our census," said Sen. Roger Wicker.
Wicker said he fears that including illegal immigrants in a population count will skew political representation and federal money that states like Mississippi receive.
"If they broke the law to get here, they should not be counted," Wicker said.
Only the long form version of the census asks about citizenship. But only the short form version will be sent out in 2010.
The Census Bureau says it's required by law to count all everyone living in the United States.
"We need to know who people are, where they are living," said Bill Chandler of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance thinks it's important to count undocumented immigrants.
"They are working here. They pay payroll taxes. They pay sales taxes," said Chandler. "They do all the same things we do to contribute to the public funds."
You can expect to see a census form in your mailbox in February or March 2010. Sen. Wicker said he hopes Congress addresses the issue.
Every decade, the U.S. Census is mailed to households nationwide. It helps the government make important decisions. But this time around, it's causing some controversy.
The roads you drive on are just one of the services that census dollars can fund. And as the clock counts down to census day, it ought to be an accurate count.
There's controversy brewing over who the census counts.
"I am completely opposed to counting illegal immigrants, illegal aliens in our census," said Sen. Roger Wicker.
Wicker said he fears that including illegal immigrants in a population count will skew political representation and federal money that states like Mississippi receive.
"If they broke the law to get here, they should not be counted," Wicker said.
Only the long form version of the census asks about citizenship. But only the short form version will be sent out in 2010.
The Census Bureau says it's required by law to count all everyone living in the United States.
"We need to know who people are, where they are living," said Bill Chandler of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance thinks it's important to count undocumented immigrants.
"They are working here. They pay payroll taxes. They pay sales taxes," said Chandler. "They do all the same things we do to contribute to the public funds."
You can expect to see a census form in your mailbox in February or March 2010. Sen. Wicker said he hopes Congress addresses the issue.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Census Bureau to hand deliver to parts of regions affected by Katrina (MS, LA)
From the Associated Press:
NEW ORLEANS — Census forms will be hand-delivered in the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas affected by the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita to get the most accurate count possible following concerns that the region could lose federal representation and funding.
The measures announced by U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves on Tuesday did not go as far as those sought by Mayor Ray Nagin and some advocacy groups to locally count potentially thousands of former residents scattered across the country who are trying to come back.
By at least one estimate, 75 percent of New Orleans' pre-Katrina population has returned in the nearly four years since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm and levee breaches. In some neighborhoods, there remain huge swaths of empty homes.
Groves said he shared Nagin's concerns, but "the proposal to count people where they want to be is something that would really be a massive change."
Census rules dictate people be counted "in their abodes," as of Census Day, he said, and Congress has not changed the law to reflect situations like refugees of Katrina and other disasters, missionaries spending time overseas or noncitizens being included in the count.
"So we have to follow the law," Groves said. "In the 2010 Census, we'll count people where they usually live."
Census workers in the region are expected to hand-deliver an estimated 300,000 questionnaires to homes in 11 south Louisiana parishes affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Additional hand deliveries are expected in parts of Mississippi's Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, also affected by the 2005 storms, and parts of Galveston Island, Texas, which was hit by Hurricane Ike last summer, said Jeff Behler, deputy regional director of the census' Dallas office.
NEW ORLEANS — Census forms will be hand-delivered in the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas affected by the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita to get the most accurate count possible following concerns that the region could lose federal representation and funding.
The measures announced by U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves on Tuesday did not go as far as those sought by Mayor Ray Nagin and some advocacy groups to locally count potentially thousands of former residents scattered across the country who are trying to come back.
By at least one estimate, 75 percent of New Orleans' pre-Katrina population has returned in the nearly four years since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm and levee breaches. In some neighborhoods, there remain huge swaths of empty homes.
Groves said he shared Nagin's concerns, but "the proposal to count people where they want to be is something that would really be a massive change."
Census rules dictate people be counted "in their abodes," as of Census Day, he said, and Congress has not changed the law to reflect situations like refugees of Katrina and other disasters, missionaries spending time overseas or noncitizens being included in the count.
"So we have to follow the law," Groves said. "In the 2010 Census, we'll count people where they usually live."
Census workers in the region are expected to hand-deliver an estimated 300,000 questionnaires to homes in 11 south Louisiana parishes affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Additional hand deliveries are expected in parts of Mississippi's Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, also affected by the 2005 storms, and parts of Galveston Island, Texas, which was hit by Hurricane Ike last summer, said Jeff Behler, deputy regional director of the census' Dallas office.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Bolivar County gets on board with Census promotion
Bolivar County prepares for 2010 Census
Bolivar County has partnered with the Census Bureau in the quest to spread awareness about the census in 2010.
“One of the government’s representatives Dorothy Walls came to me and expressed her concern about getting the word out about the 2010 census,” said Will Hooker, Bolivar County administrator. “The government is trying to raise awareness throughout the state. I believe Bolivar County is the first county in this area to get on the band wagon.”
The census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.
The public’s participation in the census is required by law and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Federal law protects the personal information shared during the census.
“We have formed a very diverse group that will serve on our counting committee,” said Hooker. “We have about 20 members on the committee. There’re individuals from west Bolivar, the northern part of the county and all over the county.
“This is really important and we want to educate the citizens in our area about the importance of the 2010 census,” he said.
Bolivar County has partnered with the Census Bureau in the quest to spread awareness about the census in 2010.
“One of the government’s representatives Dorothy Walls came to me and expressed her concern about getting the word out about the 2010 census,” said Will Hooker, Bolivar County administrator. “The government is trying to raise awareness throughout the state. I believe Bolivar County is the first county in this area to get on the band wagon.”
The census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.
The public’s participation in the census is required by law and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Federal law protects the personal information shared during the census.
“We have formed a very diverse group that will serve on our counting committee,” said Hooker. “We have about 20 members on the committee. There’re individuals from west Bolivar, the northern part of the county and all over the county.
“This is really important and we want to educate the citizens in our area about the importance of the 2010 census,” he said.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Stimulus stimulates Census Bureau jobs
From the Census Bureau newsroom:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Creates More
Than 2,200 Census Bureau Jobs
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it met the July 1, 2009 deadline to create more than 2,200 new jobs across the country. Funding for the positions was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The new employees will support the agency’s 2010 Census partnership program.
Under the Recovery Act, the Census Bureau received $1 billion in
funding, $120 million of which was used to create the new positions. The remaining funds were directed to other critical 2010 Census operations, including expanding the 2010 Census communications and advertising campaign.
“The U.S. Census Bureau has moved quickly to create these much-needed jobs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “This new staff will perform vital work at the local level with special emphasis on getting hard-to-count communities to participate in the 2010 Census.”
There are now more than 2,900 personnel in 12 regional offices working on the 2010 Census partnership program. The diverse staff speaks 95 languages and will work with thousands of governmental entities, community organizations and the private sector to raise awareness about the 2010 Census.
The new jobs created will last through the summer of 2010, when 2010 Census outreach activities are completed.
ABOUT THE 2010 CENSUS
The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data guide the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. They're also used to determine Congressional apportionment and to help guide planning decisions, such as the placement of schools, hospitals, transportation, and business and industrial development. The 2010 Census questionnaire will be one of the shortest in history, consisting of 10 questions. It takes about 10 minutes to complete. Strict laws protect the confidentiality of respondents and the information they provide.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Creates More
Than 2,200 Census Bureau Jobs
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it met the July 1, 2009 deadline to create more than 2,200 new jobs across the country. Funding for the positions was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The new employees will support the agency’s 2010 Census partnership program.
Under the Recovery Act, the Census Bureau received $1 billion in
funding, $120 million of which was used to create the new positions. The remaining funds were directed to other critical 2010 Census operations, including expanding the 2010 Census communications and advertising campaign.
“The U.S. Census Bureau has moved quickly to create these much-needed jobs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “This new staff will perform vital work at the local level with special emphasis on getting hard-to-count communities to participate in the 2010 Census.”
There are now more than 2,900 personnel in 12 regional offices working on the 2010 Census partnership program. The diverse staff speaks 95 languages and will work with thousands of governmental entities, community organizations and the private sector to raise awareness about the 2010 Census.
The new jobs created will last through the summer of 2010, when 2010 Census outreach activities are completed.
ABOUT THE 2010 CENSUS
The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data guide the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. They're also used to determine Congressional apportionment and to help guide planning decisions, such as the placement of schools, hospitals, transportation, and business and industrial development. The 2010 Census questionnaire will be one of the shortest in history, consisting of 10 questions. It takes about 10 minutes to complete. Strict laws protect the confidentiality of respondents and the information they provide.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Adjusting for Katrina?
From the Sun Herald...
Katrina victims a challenge in census count
tool goes here JACKSON, Miss. -- Leaders in Congress are being asked to alter the way the U.S. Census Bureau counts Hurricane Katrina victims who remain displaced four years after the storm.
Some Gulf Coast advocates are worried thousands of residents will return to the region in the years after the 2010 census, but federal funding states receive based on the count won't follow them.
Moving Forward Gulf Coast executive director Trap Bonner sent a letter this week to U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay asking him to hold hearings on the issue.
While U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor said he'll support the effort, U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker said they don't think an undercount will be a problem in Mississippi.
Katrina victims a challenge in census count
tool goes here JACKSON, Miss. -- Leaders in Congress are being asked to alter the way the U.S. Census Bureau counts Hurricane Katrina victims who remain displaced four years after the storm.
Some Gulf Coast advocates are worried thousands of residents will return to the region in the years after the 2010 census, but federal funding states receive based on the count won't follow them.
Moving Forward Gulf Coast executive director Trap Bonner sent a letter this week to U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay asking him to hold hearings on the issue.
While U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor said he'll support the effort, U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker said they don't think an undercount will be a problem in Mississippi.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
NABJ: 2010 Census will show that US "on path to becoming majority minority nation"
The National Association of Black Journalists put out this press release. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will address the group, which is the "largest organization of journalists of color," at their annual convention. Below is a snippet from the press release...
Commerce Secretary Locke to Discuss First “Majority Minority” Census at Black Journalists’ Convention
2010 Census to Highlight the Growing Influence of Minorities in the U.S.
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) welcomes Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to its annual convention to discuss the ramifications of one of the most important censuses in U.S. history. The 2010 census will show that the country is on a path to becoming a majority minority nation. This unparalleled historic event will have wide-ranging implications including the impact on minority political power.
“Gary Locke has been charged with overseeing the counting of people in the United States at a crucial moment in our lifetime,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. “With this census, the evolving melting pot of our country reaches a new chapter, and minority voices will be strengthened as a result.”
Secretary Locke will lead a plenary, “The 2010 Census and a Majority Minority Nation,” on Friday, August. 7 at the Tampa Convention Center. This plenary will give NABJ convention attendees a first-hand opportunity to analyze this historic event with ideas for coverage on the Web, how to find and use census data, tools you can use to see how neighborhoods have changed and will change in the future and new ideas that will arise from the census.
“The census is about power and money,” said Bobbi Bowman, the 2009 Ida B. Wells Award-recipient and diversity director at the American Society of News Editors (ASNE). “The more people a state has, the more political power it gets.”
Governors and mayors across the U.S. will want to ensure that everyone is counted, including undocumented immigrants, in order to ensure more federal funds and, with them, political power.
Commerce Secretary Locke to Discuss First “Majority Minority” Census at Black Journalists’ Convention
2010 Census to Highlight the Growing Influence of Minorities in the U.S.
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) welcomes Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to its annual convention to discuss the ramifications of one of the most important censuses in U.S. history. The 2010 census will show that the country is on a path to becoming a majority minority nation. This unparalleled historic event will have wide-ranging implications including the impact on minority political power.
“Gary Locke has been charged with overseeing the counting of people in the United States at a crucial moment in our lifetime,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. “With this census, the evolving melting pot of our country reaches a new chapter, and minority voices will be strengthened as a result.”
Secretary Locke will lead a plenary, “The 2010 Census and a Majority Minority Nation,” on Friday, August. 7 at the Tampa Convention Center. This plenary will give NABJ convention attendees a first-hand opportunity to analyze this historic event with ideas for coverage on the Web, how to find and use census data, tools you can use to see how neighborhoods have changed and will change in the future and new ideas that will arise from the census.
“The census is about power and money,” said Bobbi Bowman, the 2009 Ida B. Wells Award-recipient and diversity director at the American Society of News Editors (ASNE). “The more people a state has, the more political power it gets.”
Governors and mayors across the U.S. will want to ensure that everyone is counted, including undocumented immigrants, in order to ensure more federal funds and, with them, political power.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Minority groups discuss outreach to hard-to-count areas
From MS Public Broadcasting...
Battling For a Fair Count in The 2010 Census
Published by Phoebe Judge on 13 Jul 2009 8:19pm
Next year’s 2010 census will play a key role in how congressional districts are drawn and federal grants delivered. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on what one group of local elected officials is doing to make sure that count is accurate.
Ten years ago the 2000 Census resulted in Mississippi losing one of its Congressional districts. At a conference held yesterday in Biloxi members of the Mississippi Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials tried to come up with ways to figure out how to make sure that the 2010 Census provides a more accurate count. Leroy Johnson is executive director of the community organizing group Southern Echo. He says the hard to count areas in the state are mainly located in counties with a majority of African American and minority populations.
“We lost a district because our communities weren’t counted and that lessened the power of the state of Mississippi. We want Mississippi to have all the power that it needs, and all the power it can to serve. It needs to have all the people counted.”
The US Census bureau provides data which shows which counties is the state were hardest to count in 2000 and it is those counties which received the smallest amount of federal grant money. Lula Cooley a community planning director for the city of Laurel, says local black elected officials have to work harder to take away the fear people have of giving up information for the Census,
“You know they feel like you are getting off into their business, that you are going to knock something out. It’s good to have people in the area to associate with. If the information is not there than it is affected from the community all the way to Washington D.C.”
Efforts to ensure Mississippi is fairly counted in the 2010 census are underway from advocates representing all of Mississippi’s growing minority populations.
Reduced voting participation among whites key element to Obama's victory, says Census Bureau stats
The AP writes about recent Census Bureau stats on voter trends...says voting participation actually declined in 2008 for the first time in a dozen years... full story here
Voting rate dips in 2008 as older whites stay home
By HOPE YEN (AP) – 20 hours ago
WASHINGTON — For all the attention generated by Barack Obama's candidacy, the share of eligible voters who actually cast ballots in November declined for the first time in a dozen years. The reason: Older whites with little interest in backing either Barack Obama or John McCain stayed home.
Census figures released Monday show about 63.6 percent of the nation's eligible voters, or 131.1 million people, voted last November.
Although that represented an increase of 5 million voters — virtually all of them minorities — the turnout relative to the population of eligible voters was a decrease from 63.8 percent in 2004.
Ohio and Pennsylvania were among those showing declines in white voters, helping Obama carry those battleground states.
"While the significance of minority votes for Obama is clearly key, it cannot be overlooked that reduced white support for a Republican candidate allowed minorities to tip the balance in many slow-growing 'purple' states," said William H. Frey, a demographer for Brookings Institution, referring to key battleground states that don't notably tilt Democrat or Republican.
"The question I would ask is if a continuing stagnating economy could change that," he said.
According to census data, 66 percent of whites voted last November, down 1 percentage point from 2004. Blacks increased their turnout by 5 percentage points to 65 percent, nearly matching whites. Hispanics improved turnout by 3 percentage points, and Asians by 3.5 percentage points, each reaching a turnout of nearly 50 percent. In all, minorities made up nearly 1 in 4 voters in 2008, the most diverse electorate ever.
Voting rate dips in 2008 as older whites stay home
By HOPE YEN (AP) – 20 hours ago
WASHINGTON — For all the attention generated by Barack Obama's candidacy, the share of eligible voters who actually cast ballots in November declined for the first time in a dozen years. The reason: Older whites with little interest in backing either Barack Obama or John McCain stayed home.
Census figures released Monday show about 63.6 percent of the nation's eligible voters, or 131.1 million people, voted last November.
Although that represented an increase of 5 million voters — virtually all of them minorities — the turnout relative to the population of eligible voters was a decrease from 63.8 percent in 2004.
Ohio and Pennsylvania were among those showing declines in white voters, helping Obama carry those battleground states.
"While the significance of minority votes for Obama is clearly key, it cannot be overlooked that reduced white support for a Republican candidate allowed minorities to tip the balance in many slow-growing 'purple' states," said William H. Frey, a demographer for Brookings Institution, referring to key battleground states that don't notably tilt Democrat or Republican.
"The question I would ask is if a continuing stagnating economy could change that," he said.
According to census data, 66 percent of whites voted last November, down 1 percentage point from 2004. Blacks increased their turnout by 5 percentage points to 65 percent, nearly matching whites. Hispanics improved turnout by 3 percentage points, and Asians by 3.5 percentage points, each reaching a turnout of nearly 50 percent. In all, minorities made up nearly 1 in 4 voters in 2008, the most diverse electorate ever.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Redistricting political battle brewing?
From the Neshoba Democrat - columnist Brian Perry cites redistricting as part of the electoral "feast" in his latest column...
Every 10 years Mississippi redraws legislative lines according to the latest census data. Mississippi and the U.S. Department of Justice must approve these new lines based on 2010 data in time for 2011 qualifying deadline, or else we may double our legislative elections.
The last time Mississippi legislative elections immediately followed the year of the census was 1991 resulting in an election based on the old district lines in 1991, and another election under the new lines in 1992. Many expect a similar back-to-back race in 2011 and 2012. Sometimes, we just need a second helping to quell that political hunger.
Watching state legislators run on the same ballot as President Barack Obama seeking a second term will be icing on the political dessert.
Every 10 years Mississippi redraws legislative lines according to the latest census data. Mississippi and the U.S. Department of Justice must approve these new lines based on 2010 data in time for 2011 qualifying deadline, or else we may double our legislative elections.
The last time Mississippi legislative elections immediately followed the year of the census was 1991 resulting in an election based on the old district lines in 1991, and another election under the new lines in 1992. Many expect a similar back-to-back race in 2011 and 2012. Sometimes, we just need a second helping to quell that political hunger.
Watching state legislators run on the same ballot as President Barack Obama seeking a second term will be icing on the political dessert.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
MS Senators: How they voted
Today Robert Groves was confirmed as Census Director (he was Obama's pick to head this politically appointed post).
Wicker votes nay; Cochran votes yea.
Wicker votes nay; Cochran votes yea.
Groves confirmed as Census head
After a few months of stalled negotiations, Robert Groves has been confirmed as Obama's pick to head the 2010 Census.
From the AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the 2010 census has been approved by the Senate.
The confirmation Monday for Robert Groves, a veteran survey researcher at the University of Michigan, ends weeks of opposition by a pair of Republican senators.
Sixty votes in the 100-seat Senate were necessary for Groves' approval after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used a procedural motion to advance the stalled nomination.
Groves had been approved easily by a Senate committee in May. But Republican Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and David Vitter of Louisiana had blocked a full confirmation vote. They said they wanted more assurances that statistical sampling would not be used in the count.
More from the NY Times.
From the AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the 2010 census has been approved by the Senate.
The confirmation Monday for Robert Groves, a veteran survey researcher at the University of Michigan, ends weeks of opposition by a pair of Republican senators.
Sixty votes in the 100-seat Senate were necessary for Groves' approval after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used a procedural motion to advance the stalled nomination.
Groves had been approved easily by a Senate committee in May. But Republican Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and David Vitter of Louisiana had blocked a full confirmation vote. They said they wanted more assurances that statistical sampling would not be used in the count.
More from the NY Times.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Reapportionment 201
From the Clarion Ledger this past weekend -
Reapportionment 201: Variances in population, size of new congressional districts can be substantial
Every decade, following the census, Congress should be reapportioned to reflect population shifts. This is done by a consideration of the same single-member district concepts discussed in "Reapportionment and Redistricting 101" in the newspaper's May 24 edition. But in the truest sense, congressional reapportionment is quite different.
Congressional reapportionment is based on certain "counting" objectives. For example, the congressional reapportionment requires that the entire population be counted. This includes American citizens, legal aliens, illegal aliens, and individuals who are employed by the Department of Defense and are currently residing out of the country.
In search of the one man, one vote quest, the system ignores the following issues:
Are the citizens of voting age?
Are the citizens registered voters?
Why are legal and illegal aliens considered in the count, if they are not covered by the "one man, one vote" allegory?
Does the allocation of Department of Defense employees who are stationed out of the country skew the population toward jurisdictions with an ample supply of defense installations located within their borders?
Who establishes and endorses the directives given to the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Bureau of Census?
These questions are answered in part by an examination of census objectives. Additionally, from the numbers gleaned from the decennial census, a different standard is applied for congressional reapportionment. In Mississippi, we have 1,873,740 registered voters out of 2,910,540 residents, 26.1 percent of whom are under the age of 18, and thus unable, based on age, to be able to vote.
The remainder of the unregistered voters are old enough to vote but have not, for various reasons, registered to vote in the state. This would include aliens but also individuals who are simply not engaged in the voting process.
The current method of apportioning seats in Congress was adopted in 1941 and uses a mathematical formula to assign a priority value to each House seat. Previous formulas which had been adopted simply divided the national or state populations by the number of congressional seats, so a state could have fewer seats than its population warranted.
The Constitution requires that "representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state." This obligation has been enhanced by case law after 1962.
For example, in the 1964 case of Westberry v. Sanders, the Supreme Court held that the reapportionment resulting after each decennial census should be "as nearly equal as practicable" and thereafter, in Kirkpatrick v. Priesler, rejected an argument that small variations in population between congressional districts were de minimis (so minor as to be negligible), noting that "nothing is de minimis" and any variances must be determined to be unavoidable or justified as supporting an acknowledged and valid governmental policy.
In 1983, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its position in Kilpatrick, in the decision of Karcher v. Daggett, by noting that there is no level of population inequality among congressional districts that is too small, so long as the plan's challengers can show that the inequality could have been avoided.
Read more here...
Reapportionment 201: Variances in population, size of new congressional districts can be substantial
Every decade, following the census, Congress should be reapportioned to reflect population shifts. This is done by a consideration of the same single-member district concepts discussed in "Reapportionment and Redistricting 101" in the newspaper's May 24 edition. But in the truest sense, congressional reapportionment is quite different.
Congressional reapportionment is based on certain "counting" objectives. For example, the congressional reapportionment requires that the entire population be counted. This includes American citizens, legal aliens, illegal aliens, and individuals who are employed by the Department of Defense and are currently residing out of the country.
In search of the one man, one vote quest, the system ignores the following issues:
Are the citizens of voting age?
Are the citizens registered voters?
Why are legal and illegal aliens considered in the count, if they are not covered by the "one man, one vote" allegory?
Does the allocation of Department of Defense employees who are stationed out of the country skew the population toward jurisdictions with an ample supply of defense installations located within their borders?
Who establishes and endorses the directives given to the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Bureau of Census?
These questions are answered in part by an examination of census objectives. Additionally, from the numbers gleaned from the decennial census, a different standard is applied for congressional reapportionment. In Mississippi, we have 1,873,740 registered voters out of 2,910,540 residents, 26.1 percent of whom are under the age of 18, and thus unable, based on age, to be able to vote.
The remainder of the unregistered voters are old enough to vote but have not, for various reasons, registered to vote in the state. This would include aliens but also individuals who are simply not engaged in the voting process.
The current method of apportioning seats in Congress was adopted in 1941 and uses a mathematical formula to assign a priority value to each House seat. Previous formulas which had been adopted simply divided the national or state populations by the number of congressional seats, so a state could have fewer seats than its population warranted.
The Constitution requires that "representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state." This obligation has been enhanced by case law after 1962.
For example, in the 1964 case of Westberry v. Sanders, the Supreme Court held that the reapportionment resulting after each decennial census should be "as nearly equal as practicable" and thereafter, in Kirkpatrick v. Priesler, rejected an argument that small variations in population between congressional districts were de minimis (so minor as to be negligible), noting that "nothing is de minimis" and any variances must be determined to be unavoidable or justified as supporting an acknowledged and valid governmental policy.
In 1983, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its position in Kilpatrick, in the decision of Karcher v. Daggett, by noting that there is no level of population inequality among congressional districts that is too small, so long as the plan's challengers can show that the inequality could have been avoided.
Read more here...
MS Census obstacles
Gary Pettus of the Clarion Ledger writes about Census obstacles...
Census obstacles - Isolated areas in state pose challenge for listers
When Stephen Guido pilots his chopper above the remote terrain along the Mississippi River, he's often searching for a flood victim, looter or something more sinister.
"Most of the time, it's looking for dead bodies," said Guido, a reserve officer in the Adams County Sheriff's Department.
But earlier this week, Guido and his copter were on a mission to find the living.
As he mounted the skies over Glasscock and Jackson islands, he carried two passengers: Adams County residents Latonya Terrell and Karen Rounds, who both work as "listers" for the Jackson office of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Along the river at Natchez, Guido was helping them search for houses or habitable buildings -a preliminary step in the 2010 census.
The search was part of the bureau's effort to reach populations that are hard to count.
Among the 50 states, Mississippi is the 19th-hardest to count - often because of crowded housing or poverty.
But, for the area along the Mississippi-Louisiana border, including nearby Cowpen (a.k.a. Giles) Island, other factors are in play: high water and geography.
The marshlands and wooded areas of the county are hard to reach, said Donald Watson, office manager of the Census Bureau's Jackson office, which covers the states' western half.
"We have had to come up with creative ways to get the job done," he said.
In June, low-lying parts of Cowpen/Giles Island were still under water from spring floods, said Stan Owens Jr., director of Emergency Management in Adams County.
Facing a deadline, Watson's workers had to find a way in and complete the address canvassing process: verifying the addresses of single-family dwellings.
Across the country, listers start with address lists taken from previous censuses and the U.S. Postal Service.
Once addresses are confirmed or corrected, and new ones discovered, the bureau uses the new lists to mail out questionnaires to residents.
Seeking help on this mission, Watson called Adams County Sheriff Angie Brown. In June, she offered him a search-and-rescue boat.
"The census is important to our state and to our community," Brown said. "Without accurate counts, a lot of federal money could be lost."
The count affects federal funding for schools, hospitals, roads and more. It determines a community's share of an estimated $300 billion.
It also determines a state's representation in Congress: After the 2000 census, Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat because its pace of growth was slower than in other states.
So, about a month ago, Everard Baker and two other volunteers with the county's search-and-rescue team climbed into the unit's 17-foot, fiberglass outboard.
With three census listers aboard, the team navigated the swift-running waters of the Mississippi, toward Cowpen/Giles Island.
On a map, this isolated area falls on the Louisiana side of the river, but it belongs to Adams County. Cowpen was detached decades ago when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created a cutoff to shorten a river bend.
This region is dotted with hunting and fishing camps, and a smattering of homes. While a road does connect Cowpen to the mainland, parts of it are still flooded or mud-swamped.
"The (census workers) couldn't get to some of these places," Baker said, "so we carried them there to let them do whatever they do. Count buildings, count heads.
"We're here to provide a public service. If that helps them get their job done, we've accomplished our mission."
Still, because of high water and their remoteness, two other sites, Jackson and Glasscock islands, are difficult to survey, even by boat.
That's why Brown offered Watson the services of the Sheriff Department's chopper, mostly for free.
"It can cost $1,000 to hire a helicopter," Watson said, "but Sheriff Brown said, 'Y'all just buy the gas.' "
Brown did not have an estimate for the boat-fuel cost, but gauged the charge for the copter's fuel at around $200.
She described the arrangement as "win-win."
"It helped in the training of our all-volunteer search-and-rescue team," Brown said.
"Our helicopter pilot is a volunteer, also, and this gave him some air time. Pilots are always looking for air time."
Often, air time is spent buzzing suspicious-looking characters, Guido said.
"People break into these hunting and fishing camps.
"If we see someone in a boat, we'll stop and shake them down to make sure they haven't stolen anything."
There were no shakedowns Thursday, but once the listers landed on Jackson Island, or Point, they found five livable structures, Guido said. "This is the first time I've flown census people."
Without that kind of help, "We couldn't have canvassed these areas within our time frame," Watson said.
Officials in Bolivar and Wilkinson counties and other areas "stepped up to the plate" as well, he said.
"I've been pleasantly overwhelmed.
"There seems to be a renewed sense of patriotism, or something, from people of all walks of life."
The work isn't finished, of course. Next is the survey of group quarters - college campuses, military bases, nursing homes and more.
Three more census offices are scheduled to open by summer's end - in Southaven, Tupelo and Harrison County.
For now, there are offices in Jackson and Meridian only.
Their work leads up to the official 2010 census mail-out, which starts next year.
For the 2000 census, 63 percent of Mississippians responded to the mail-out, compared to 67 percent for the nation, Watson said.
"I'd like to see our rate reach 70 or 75 percent this time," he said. "That could mean millions of more dollars for the state of Mississippi."
Census obstacles - Isolated areas in state pose challenge for listers
When Stephen Guido pilots his chopper above the remote terrain along the Mississippi River, he's often searching for a flood victim, looter or something more sinister.
"Most of the time, it's looking for dead bodies," said Guido, a reserve officer in the Adams County Sheriff's Department.
But earlier this week, Guido and his copter were on a mission to find the living.
As he mounted the skies over Glasscock and Jackson islands, he carried two passengers: Adams County residents Latonya Terrell and Karen Rounds, who both work as "listers" for the Jackson office of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Along the river at Natchez, Guido was helping them search for houses or habitable buildings -a preliminary step in the 2010 census.
The search was part of the bureau's effort to reach populations that are hard to count.
Among the 50 states, Mississippi is the 19th-hardest to count - often because of crowded housing or poverty.
But, for the area along the Mississippi-Louisiana border, including nearby Cowpen (a.k.a. Giles) Island, other factors are in play: high water and geography.
The marshlands and wooded areas of the county are hard to reach, said Donald Watson, office manager of the Census Bureau's Jackson office, which covers the states' western half.
"We have had to come up with creative ways to get the job done," he said.
In June, low-lying parts of Cowpen/Giles Island were still under water from spring floods, said Stan Owens Jr., director of Emergency Management in Adams County.
Facing a deadline, Watson's workers had to find a way in and complete the address canvassing process: verifying the addresses of single-family dwellings.
Across the country, listers start with address lists taken from previous censuses and the U.S. Postal Service.
Once addresses are confirmed or corrected, and new ones discovered, the bureau uses the new lists to mail out questionnaires to residents.
Seeking help on this mission, Watson called Adams County Sheriff Angie Brown. In June, she offered him a search-and-rescue boat.
"The census is important to our state and to our community," Brown said. "Without accurate counts, a lot of federal money could be lost."
The count affects federal funding for schools, hospitals, roads and more. It determines a community's share of an estimated $300 billion.
It also determines a state's representation in Congress: After the 2000 census, Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat because its pace of growth was slower than in other states.
So, about a month ago, Everard Baker and two other volunteers with the county's search-and-rescue team climbed into the unit's 17-foot, fiberglass outboard.
With three census listers aboard, the team navigated the swift-running waters of the Mississippi, toward Cowpen/Giles Island.
On a map, this isolated area falls on the Louisiana side of the river, but it belongs to Adams County. Cowpen was detached decades ago when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created a cutoff to shorten a river bend.
This region is dotted with hunting and fishing camps, and a smattering of homes. While a road does connect Cowpen to the mainland, parts of it are still flooded or mud-swamped.
"The (census workers) couldn't get to some of these places," Baker said, "so we carried them there to let them do whatever they do. Count buildings, count heads.
"We're here to provide a public service. If that helps them get their job done, we've accomplished our mission."
Still, because of high water and their remoteness, two other sites, Jackson and Glasscock islands, are difficult to survey, even by boat.
That's why Brown offered Watson the services of the Sheriff Department's chopper, mostly for free.
"It can cost $1,000 to hire a helicopter," Watson said, "but Sheriff Brown said, 'Y'all just buy the gas.' "
Brown did not have an estimate for the boat-fuel cost, but gauged the charge for the copter's fuel at around $200.
She described the arrangement as "win-win."
"It helped in the training of our all-volunteer search-and-rescue team," Brown said.
"Our helicopter pilot is a volunteer, also, and this gave him some air time. Pilots are always looking for air time."
Often, air time is spent buzzing suspicious-looking characters, Guido said.
"People break into these hunting and fishing camps.
"If we see someone in a boat, we'll stop and shake them down to make sure they haven't stolen anything."
There were no shakedowns Thursday, but once the listers landed on Jackson Island, or Point, they found five livable structures, Guido said. "This is the first time I've flown census people."
Without that kind of help, "We couldn't have canvassed these areas within our time frame," Watson said.
Officials in Bolivar and Wilkinson counties and other areas "stepped up to the plate" as well, he said.
"I've been pleasantly overwhelmed.
"There seems to be a renewed sense of patriotism, or something, from people of all walks of life."
The work isn't finished, of course. Next is the survey of group quarters - college campuses, military bases, nursing homes and more.
Three more census offices are scheduled to open by summer's end - in Southaven, Tupelo and Harrison County.
For now, there are offices in Jackson and Meridian only.
Their work leads up to the official 2010 census mail-out, which starts next year.
For the 2000 census, 63 percent of Mississippians responded to the mail-out, compared to 67 percent for the nation, Watson said.
"I'd like to see our rate reach 70 or 75 percent this time," he said. "That could mean millions of more dollars for the state of Mississippi."
Friday, July 10, 2009
WCJ: Local supes encourage Census participation
From the Winston County Journal in Louisville...
Supes encourage participation in 2010 census
Taken every 10 years, the census affects political representation and directs the allocation of billions of dollars in government funding. For these reasons, the Winston County Board of Supervisors hopes Winston Countians will find ways to support and will fill out the census data when they receive it.
Supervisor Lamar Turnipseed remarked at the June 1 meeting that it is important for Winston Countians to participate in the 2010 Census for the good of the county.
"Our county will miss out on important funding and programs if we are not properly counted," said Turnipseed.
Diann Chapman of the U.S. Census Bureau spoke to the board at the June 1 meeting to review the importance of the census and to encourage the board members to set up Complete Count Committee in each district.
Chapman noted that every year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states and communities based on census data. That's more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period.
Census data guide local decision-makers in important community planning efforts, including where to build new roads.
She asked that the board appoint several 2010 Census partners in each district to help educate the community about the importance of participating in this historic event and help ensure no one is left uncounted.
"These persons can help your community receive the fiscal and social benefits to which it is entitled," said Chapman. "We need as many respondents as possible."
Anyone interested in joining the Complete Count Committee may contact their District Supervisor or Chancery Clerk Pam Reel.
The Census data also determines how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The forms to be mailed out will include only about 10 questions. The Census Bureau has had persons in the area verifying address to help insure all citizens receive a census form.
Chapman explained to the supervisors that no one should be afraid to fillout the form since it does not share the forms with any other government agencies.
"We just want an accurate count," said Chapman.
Supes encourage participation in 2010 census
Taken every 10 years, the census affects political representation and directs the allocation of billions of dollars in government funding. For these reasons, the Winston County Board of Supervisors hopes Winston Countians will find ways to support and will fill out the census data when they receive it.
Supervisor Lamar Turnipseed remarked at the June 1 meeting that it is important for Winston Countians to participate in the 2010 Census for the good of the county.
"Our county will miss out on important funding and programs if we are not properly counted," said Turnipseed.
Diann Chapman of the U.S. Census Bureau spoke to the board at the June 1 meeting to review the importance of the census and to encourage the board members to set up Complete Count Committee in each district.
Chapman noted that every year, more than $300 billion in federal funds is awarded to states and communities based on census data. That's more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period.
Census data guide local decision-makers in important community planning efforts, including where to build new roads.
She asked that the board appoint several 2010 Census partners in each district to help educate the community about the importance of participating in this historic event and help ensure no one is left uncounted.
"These persons can help your community receive the fiscal and social benefits to which it is entitled," said Chapman. "We need as many respondents as possible."
Anyone interested in joining the Complete Count Committee may contact their District Supervisor or Chancery Clerk Pam Reel.
The Census data also determines how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The forms to be mailed out will include only about 10 questions. The Census Bureau has had persons in the area verifying address to help insure all citizens receive a census form.
Chapman explained to the supervisors that no one should be afraid to fillout the form since it does not share the forms with any other government agencies.
"We just want an accurate count," said Chapman.
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