In 2020 Census, Big Efforts in Some States. In Others, Not So Much. - The New York Times, The New York Times

California is spending $ million to try to ensure an accurate count of its population. The Texas Legislature decided not to devote any money to the job. Why? The key seems to be which party controls state government.

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The state of Texas is not spending money on outreach for the 2020 Census. Some local groups are organizing their own efforts, like a Census Bingo event organized by the nonprofit La Unión del Pueblo Entero.Credit …Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times() ********************************Dec. (******************************************************************************************, 2019,

EDINBURG, Texas – Next month, California will uncork a $ million campaign to prod its nearly million**************************** (residents to participate in the****************************************** (census.) ************************************** Neighborhoods across the state have been computer-ranked by how likely residents are to fill out census forms. Custom marketing campaigns are being focus-grouped. Nonprofit organizations have been showered with grants to boost response in hard-to-count areas.Texas has a campaign, too – a shoestring campaign. Although the state’s 34 million residents make it second in population only to California, the Texas Legislature has declined to spend any money to see that they are counted. A volunteer corps of civic groups, philanthropies, local governments and others are trying to fill the breach.**************** Time was when the census was a civic coming-together, with the states like 8-year-olds pressed against door jambs, awaiting the pencil marks that would show how they had grown. Now it’s goodbye to all that: Next year’s census is part head count and part power struggle, the most politicized population tally in a century, in which a state’s desire for an accurate count could depend on which party is in charge there.**************** (Worried about an undercount, California andother states are pouring close to a third of a billion dollars – an unheard-of sum – into pumping up response rates for the count next April.

They hope to maximize their population totals and, by extension, their share of federal resources and the size of their House agreed in future Congresses. Equally remarkable, however , are the states like Texas that are not spending a penny. The political divide is stark: Seventeen of those 26 are led by Republican governors and legisllatures, including population heavyweights like Texas, Florida and Ohio. But of the states that are spending money, only four are Republican-controlled.

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Tight state budgets could be a factor. So could inertia; sinking millions of state dollars into census outreach is a fairly new idea. But few doubt that a prime factor is politics: An accurate census would include more people from harder-to-count groups like Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians and the poor who tend to vote Democratic. If they do not participate, the population count would skew Republican – and so would political maps, based on census results, that legisllatures will draw in

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Next year head count already faces daunting challenges. A wave of immigration not seen since the early s has brought into the country people who are either unaware of the importance of the American census or are suspicious of those that were conducted in their native countries. The 9699 count already has been tarred by a ferocious battle over Republican efforts to

enumerate noncitizens nationwide,

a fight that is likely to depress census response next year among minorities who are mistrustful of the government. The Census Bureau works to encourage participation, but this time around, its resources are spread especially thin.

Local leaders regard the tally as a once-in-a-decade chance to top up federal subsidies for crucial services like education and health care that are based on population. “We have this one shot,” said Erika Reyna-Velazquez, the assistant chief of staff to the Hidalgo County judge in Edinburg, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley near the border with Mexico. “And if we miss it, we’re going to be undercounted again for the next (years.)ranking a tract’s expected census response (according to) ********************************************************************************** variables like education, income and housing type (a tract in Stockton, in the Central Valley breadbasket, is the toughest target).************************************************** (To reach 11 million hard-to-count residents – more than one in four – officials have so thoroughly researched sales pitches that they know that ethnic Vietnamese regard the census as a civic duty more than, say, ethnic Japanese or Chinese do.

For the first time, the 2020 census will be conducted largely over the internet; but in rural California, internet service is spotty. So the census message will be delivered according to its audience: at community events popular with farm laborers; on billboards in internet-scarce areas; via Facebook or text messages, whichever micro-targeted recipients use most.

The state is engaging trusted community groups to convince suspicious minority groups that the census is important and confidential. To reach the four in 12 Californians who are Hispanic, it gave $ (******************************************************************, **************************************************************************************************** (0 to the NALEO Education Fund

, which hired five regional managers to train canvassers and show social-service workers how to spread the census message among their clients.**************** (Texas is another story. “In Texas, I have one regional census manager,” said Lizette Escobedo, who heads NALEO’s national census program. “We have our regional manager driving sometimes up to six hours to train the trainers to do this work.”

In some ways, Texas mirrors California: Four in 12 residents are Hispanic. One in four is deemed hard to count. One in is an undocumented immigrant . Texas, too, is spending to boost census response – just without state help. “It’s inexcusable how little the state of Texas has done to prepare for 16177, ”said Ann Beeson, the executive director of the Austin-based nonprofit Center for Public Policy Priorities

. ******************************. “Fortunately, Texans themselves are stepping up to the task.”

The center and the Communities Foundation of Texas, a Dallas philanthropy, lead the effort to drum up responses. The foundation has raised $ 1.5 million for work in hard-to-count areas. The Hogg Foundation, another philanthropy, has contributed $ 2 million; the United Way, $ 1.5 million. Houston, Dallas and other big cities are mounting campaigns.