03/13/10 - Branson (MO) Tri-Lakes Times: 10 minutes affects 10 years, By Niel Ritchie
10 minutes affects 10 years
By Niel Ritchie
Ten questions that can be completed in 10 minutes — the U.S. Census doesn’t sound like much, but its importance can’t be overstated: In 2008, the last year for which data is available, Missouri received nearly $8.4 billion based on the decennial headcount, accounting for a fifth of the state’s annual revenue.
According to a report out this week by the Brookings Institution, more than $400 billion in federal funds for 215 programs will be tied to data collected in the 2010 Census. When stimulus package dollars are added in, the overall tally tops a half trillion. Health care represents the largest allotment by far, but also on that list are such things as economic development grants, energy assistance, transportation projects, and education and job-training programs.
And every person counts. As the report’s authors note: “To illustrate the fiscal impact of decennial census accuracy, each additional person included in the Census 2000 resulted in an annual additional Medicaid reimbursement to most states of between several hundred and several thousand dollars.”
A complete count of people living in the United States is constitutionally mandated every decade and participation is required by law, yet thousands of Missourians nonetheless are missed. In 2000, nearly 26,000 residents went uncounted, amounting to hundreds of thousands lost over the 10-year-life of each census. For some that likely was a choice: Citing fear of government and disinterest overall among their reasons why, as many as one in five nationwide plan not to fill out the form this year.
Rural residents are among those at greatest risk for going uncounted, a fearsome reality for states like Missouri already struck hard by tough economic times.
“In a time of very tight state budgets, communities can’t afford to lose funding for housing, education, transportation, health care — all the programs that are supported in large part on population counts,” said Barbara Ronningen, demographer with the Minnesota Demographic Center. “We need to capture those numbers to ensure we have the services that are needed.”
But more than just federal funds are at stake.
Census data determine how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives and are used by a wide range of agencies, businesses and nonprofits to promote jobs growth and better serve their communities.
“The census is about fairness and equality,” said Dennis Johnson, regional director with the Census Bureau. “And the further we get from an accurate count the less equality we will have.”
Census questionnaires will begin arriving next week and are due back by April 1. Whether Missouri gets its fair share of federal funds is up to us.
Niel Ritchie is executive director of the League of Rural Voters, a Minnesota-based nonprofit working to strengthen rural communities nationwide.
