With Much on the Line, States Want Complete Counts.

• Author: Underbill, Wendy
• Position: 2020 CENSUS

Complete count committees--set up to make sure the census counts everyone, just once and in the right place--are more popular than ever. At least 29 states have a state-level committee in place and more are in the works.

"Nearly every state is in the process of forming a statewide complete count committee, something that did not occur during the 2010 census," says Tim Olson, the Census Bureau's associate director for field operations. "The energy and investment by all levels of government is remarkable, ensuring everyone is counted during the 2020 census."

An accurate count is important because census numbers form the basis for electoral representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, state legislatures and many other state and local bodies to which members are elected from districts. (Indirectly, the census also determines how many presidential electors a state has.) With congressional seats on the line, states on the cusp of gaining or losing one are particularly motivated to ensure their residents are counted.

The federal government will distribute more than $880 billion annually for a decade using funding formulas based on census population counts. The number of people counted in 2020 will affect states' share of those funds through 2030. That can be well over $1,500 per person annually.

No surprise, then, that states are willing to invest in census outreach. California has $154 million set aside for its count committee. Alabama expects to allocate $480,000, or about 10 cents per person.

Complete count committees can perform an outreach role...