From the National Association of Regional Councils
A new report has been released by George Washington University to better understand the financial impacts of the 2020 Census for states and local areas. In fiscal year 2015 alone, the report shared that 50 states and D.C. received almost $600 billion from 16 large Census-guided programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, and Highway Planning and Construction. 15 of out these 16 major programs determined the amount of funding a state received by the 2010 Census count. Datasets derived by the last major Decennial Census were also used by these 16 programs to guide the geographical distribution of funds to local areas.
This study highlights the importance of local government involvement for delivering fair and accurate counts in the 2020 Census. If the count is not accurate, it may cause an unequitable distribution of $6 trillion in federal financial assistance to communities across the U.S. for 10 years.