Which States Are Poised to Gain in This Years Census

Texas could gain up to four Congressional seats By Leah Carliner & Emma Dumain The U.S. Census does more than just count people it also determines which states gain or lose a Congressional seat.  According to an analysis by Election Data Services Inc. the nonpartisan consulting firm specializing in political demographics eight states are poised to gain seats and 11 states are likely to lose them.   The more seats a state has the more political power it gains not only in the number of Members of Congress it has but also the Electoral College votes. The states that emerge as winners experts say will be the ones that were able to weather the storms of a tumultuous decade of the housing bubble and the ensuing recession. In its own study the Brookings Institute reported that 2009 ended with the greatest migration slowdown since the end of World War II. This week Congress.org took a look at which states which Election Data Services said are poised to gain in this years Census. The eight states the Census will help:

1. Texas
2. Arizona
3. Florida
4. Nevada
5. Oregon
6. Utah
7. Georgia and
8. South Carolina

Texas:  Analysts predict that Texas could gain up to four Congressional seats the most of any of the handful of other states expected to grow. Many people attribute Texas increased population to the influx of Hispanic immigrants flooding in from the states borders: between 2006 and 2007 Texas became home to 308000 Hispanic newcomers more than any other state. Robert A. Hummer a sociology professor and demographer at the Population Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin says this is a factor but not the predominant one. People have gravitated to the state to work in industries unscathed by the economic downturn. However natural increasethe excess of births over deathis the main contributor to Texas growing population. According to Hummer Texas has a young age structure and a high rate of fertility both exceeding these averages for the United States as a whole. Hummer acknowledged though that many of the children born in-state each year are those of young Hispanic women migrating to Texas in droves. He added that as Texas continues to grow and diversify so could voting habits for the traditionally red state. How the growth among the Hispanic population as compared to whites and blacks will actually end up impacting future elections I dont know said Hummer but its important to keep in mind that diversification has the potential to change the way Texans vote and elect officials and to move towards a more Democratic majority than weve seen in along time. The 11 states the Census will hurt:

1. Louisiana
2. Minnesota
3. Iowa
4. Missouri
5. Illinois
6. Michigan
7. Ohio
8. New York
9. Pennsylvania
10. Massachusetts an
11. New Jersey

Want to help save the government money? Send in your Census. For every one percent increase in the number of people who mail back their 2010 Census questionnaires the U.S. government will save between $80 and $90 million. Thats because the U.S. Census Bureau is required to hire field workers to track down the estimated 130 million people who dont return their questionnaires. If thats not enough reason to turn in your Census forms consider that they help ensure that your state gets its share of federal money and federal representation. Census data is used to determine how many representatives a state gets in the House as well as how many votes it gets for president in the Electoral College. (It does not affect the number of senators.) The 2010 Census process began last spring when bureau field workers went door-to-door with GPS computers in order to verify every address in the United States. Field workers were looking for all types of homes even the ones that might exist in hard-to-find places such as renovated industrial buildings in New York City or rehabbed barns in rural Iowa. In March the Census Bureau will begin the second phase of the 2010 Census when it sends out a 10-question form to each address. The questions will include things like how many people live in your household and what is your telephone number. Field workers will do follow-ups between April and July and in December of next year the Census Bureau will send the population information to the president as mandated by law. In most situations giving a total stranger your phone number or address would be a bad idea so it is important to verify that the person at your door actually works for the Census. We make it clear that if somebody feels uncomfortable they should take precautions said Eun Kim a Census Bureau spokeswoman. Each representative will provide the resident with supervisory contact information and a regional office phone number for verification. Additionally the field worker will usually be carrying some kind of bag or gear that has the Census Bureau written on it Kim said. Here are a few other things you should know about the upcoming Census:

• If you mail back your 2010 forms successfully and completely no one from the bureau will come to your home.
• If you have not returned your form or have not answered each question completely a field worker from the Census Bureau will only knock on your door between April and July 2010.
• If a field worker does knock on your door you can ask him or her to share with you the following: a valid identification badge contact information of a supervisor or regional office and a letter on official Census Bureau letterhead.
• A bureau representative will never ask you for your Social Security number bank account number or a credit card number.
• The Census Bureau will never contact you by e-mail.