“With a rising number of citizens moving to Florida, we cannot afford an undercount; we need the money” said President of the League of Women Voters of Florida Patricia Brigham. “The money [provided federally after Census Counts] is crucial to meet the needs of our communities, to help the undeserved and to further enhance the robustness of our state.””The federal government relies on the census when distributing $675 billion annually to states, counties and municipalities,” said U.S. Census Bureau Partnership Specialist Channa Lloyd. “Each and every person who is living in the United States should be counted and the Census Bureau will never ask for Social Security numbers, money or donations, passwords or credit card or financial account information.”
“An accurate count is essential to ensuring our state receives its fair share of fair share of federal funds to help support these vital services that are already stretched thin,” said Florida Policy Institute Analyst Anne Serlick. “In children under the age of four, more than 71,000 were missed in the 2010 census county, which hindered money going toward child care, SNAP benefits and other crucial programs.”
“The Census count impacts the federal funds that our school districts and communities receive for special education, classroom technology, professional development for teachers and school leaders, after-school programs, school lunch assistance and more,” said Executive Director of the Florida School Board Association Andrea Messian.
Beginning March 12, 2020, Census invitations with unique identification code numbers will be mailed to all households. This is the first time the Census will offer digital response. The impact is significant.
Florida is teetering between an additional two or three congressional seats. Floridians received about $44 billion in 2016 and are expected to receive more this census count, but many groups are fearful or hard to reach. Outreach from any civic or political organizations should be encouraged statewide.
