ADECA Director Preparing for State Census Tour
On Tuesday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey will deliver her State of the State address to kick off the 2020 legislative session..
One thing she’s expected to touch on: the importance of the 2020 Census.
Alabama’s population count of adults and children will lead to billions of dollars in federal funding- money that many organizations need.
“For the next ten years, we have to live with the results of this census,” Director of Voices for Alabama’s Children Stephen Woerner said.
The organization is one of many that relies on the distribution of $13 billion dollars in federal funding.
“From medicaid, to school lunches, to Title 1 funds, to WIC dollars,” Woerner said.
ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell says if citizens have low participation, Alabama could lose thousands of dollars in federal funding, as well as representation in the U.S. House.
“We all know those seats are very important to us from a standpoint of advocacy, and making sure that Alabamians gets their fair share when it comes to federal dollars,” Boswell said.
Those dollars affect healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
Boswell is in the final stages of preparation before he travels across the state.
Dothan, Huntsville, and Mobile are among his stops scheduled in March. He will speak to residents about the importance of the census.
“What it means to the state from perspective of either a congressional seat being at stake or whether it be those vital dollars that they may either be a recipient of directly or for those being affected indirectly,” Boswell said.
The US Census Bureau has made it easier to participate- you can fill the census out online, over phone, or a standard paper census.
“I think we need to get as close to a 100 percent participation as we can. And the reason for that is you’ve got Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina that are growing. And they could be the recipient of our funds,” Boswell said.
You can expect instructions on how to participate in the 2020 census to arrive in your mailbox around March 12th.
April 1st is 2020 Census Day.
For more information on the Alabama’s participation for the Census, you can click here.
United States Census Information can be found here.
