Time running short to complete 2020 Census

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My Two Cents

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Although it has become politicized, let’s try and take politics out of the importance of completing the 2020 Census.

I take that back. Actually, let’s leave politics in the discussion for a few moments. 

The results of the 2020 Census could very well determine the number of seats West Texas has in the United States House of Representatives. There are models that predict West Texas, specifically the Panhandle Region, could lose a congressional district to a growing urban area such as Houston, Dallas or Austin.

If that were to come true, that would mean half as many voices in Congress standing up for rural West Texans and our needs and values.

Maps would also be redrawn for our representation in Austin. Being from this region, State Sen. Charles Perry and State Rep. Dustin Burrows do a good job of representing rural West Texas. They know the region and what’s important to the people that call West Texas home.

But as the population grows along the I-35 corridor and east, the district boundaries are going to be drawn to increasingly represent the higher populations in those areas.

Representation in Austin and Washington, D.C., is just one of the reasons why it is so important for every family to complete the 2020 Census.

Census data is used to make many critical decisions that will have an impact on our community for the next 10 years. The results will show where communities need new schools, new clinics, new roads and more services for families, older adults and children. They will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated to more than 100 programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, block grants for community mental health services and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. 

So far, just over half of us in Scurry County have self-responded to the 2020 Census. According to data released earlier this week, the county’s self-response rate is 53 percent. With the City of Snyder, the rate is 53.6 percent. Statewide the self-response rate is 58.4 and nationally, it’s 63.4 percent.

How could that affect representation at the state and national capitols? The response rates in Dallas (59 percent), Travis (62.7 percent), Harris (58 percent) and Bexar (62.4 percent) counties are higher — meaning that during redistricting, they stand to benefit. How much do you think we have in common with those big cities — and where do you elected officials are going to focus their attention?

Responding to the Census is not difficult: it can be done through the mail, online or by telephone. More details can be found online at https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html. You should have received information in the mail with instructions, but if your household is anything like mine, finding it when you want it will be almost impossible — although it’ll show up in a few years. 

If you don’t have internet, call (844) 330-2020.  

I completed my family’s 2020 Census online and it took less than five minutes. I think we both know you have five minutes to take care of this.

Completing the 2020 Census is incredibly easy and is very important for our town and our county. It’s not a political decision — it comes down to basic math. The states, counties and cities with the highest totals win. That doesn’t come with a trophy, but the impact on our hometown will last a lifetime.

 

Bill Crist is the publisher of The Snyder News. Comments may be emailed to publisher@thesnydernews.com.