KINGSTON – This year the decennial census will be conducted and local community leaders gathered in Kingston Tuesday to learn how to spread the message about the count in 2020.
“We’ve asked today that various local community organizations and non-profits join us, and we’ll giving them information how they can help us to get everyone to participate in the census,” said Jennifer Clark, chairwoman of Ulster County’s Complete Count Committee. “Community organizations are voices we really need to get out the message about the importance of the census and why it matters.”
The census matters because a count is needed to determine the funding needs for state and federal programs such as economic development, unemployment, Medicaid, Medicare, and housing assistance.
The Census count also affects the number of seats allocated to each state in the House of Representatives, noted Clark.
“This year New York is projected to lose one representative,” said Clark. “With an undercount, and we lose up to three. And again, that’s less voices for New Yorkers.”
The census is “vitally important to any number of programs,” said Clark. “All of these things are based on our census numbers. “If people are not responding, we are not getting funding. But we still have to pay for these programs, and then your tax dollars go up.”
