PEORIA -- The 2010 US Census, taking place next spring, seems apolitical, even benign. It's only about numbers. But think again -- the subtext is money and politics, especially redistricting Congressional and legislative seats.
That was the message of Mary Schaafsma of the Illinois League of Women Voters, who spoke to the Peoria area LWV chapter on Sept. 12.
The League is involved in promoting a full census count, and dipping into the subsequent redistricting issues, she said. First the count:
The US will spend over $14 billion to count more than 300 million people, using a simple 10-question form to be mailed in March to households, she said. Census workers have already surveyed residences to determine which buildings are occupied.
The League and other good government groups plan campaigns to encourage people to fill out the form and send it back. "It does not ask for citizenship information or social security numbers," she said. And the results are confidential.
But why should an undocumented resident take a chance?
Because the Census wants to count everyone, including the undocumented. They count for government services, from police and fire departments to transportation. And thousands of federal dollars to local communities depend on the accurate court of everyone.
She said $1,100 a year will be lost to Illinois for every person not counted.
The 10-question form is a response to declining rates of response to longer forms, she said. "The response rate has been declining" over the last few decades, she said, theoretically because of the previous long forms.
If Illinois had posted just 152,000 more residents in 2000, it would not have lost a congressional seat, she said. It now has 19 districts.
This time, Illinois could lose two seats if a complete count does not take place. It likely will lose one anyway.
Meanwhile the population keeps increasing in Illinois, though not as rapidly as in some other states. Each congress member from Illinois will likely represent 700,000 people after the census, up from 650,000 now.
The Census has analyzed populations, and knows which zip codes contain "hard to count" residents, she said. Peoria has three of these districts, she said.
"You count people where they sleep," she said, so that the incarcerated are counted in prison, college students in dorms, patients in nursing homes. The armed services do their own counts, based on military bases in the US. Americans living abroad are not counted.
In this era of suspicion of government, a few political figures are using a boycott of the census, she said. In California, hispanics are being urged not to cooperate with the census until immigration reform takes place. That's misguided, she said.
"Be aware of the subtle attempts to undermine the value of the Census," she said, and counter that by speaking out with comments and letters to the editor. "It undermines our democracy."
For those households that don't return the forms, workers will be knocking on doors. It costs $100 for every follow up, she said.
Illinois communities are organizing Complete Count Committees, she said. Local governments can organize them, or local groups. They should include all elements of the community, from business to faith-based organizations, then the committees should develop plans for outreach. The League is involved in the CCC groups in Illinois.
On Dec. 31, 2010, the census will be certified, and serve as the basis for redistricting.
In Illinois, the Congressional delegation bargains for the district boundaries, she said, "to protect the incumbents."
The Illinois General Assembly draws the state legislative map, with the same idea in mind. The result: in 40 percent of the districts in both the Illinois House and Senate, there were no opponents to the incumbents in the last election.
Under the current system, there is no transparency or citizen input. That should change, she said.
Redistricting is the key to reform of the state's fabled corruption, she said. Longer terms for legislators and term limits for legislative leaders would help, she said.
There are various plans for redistricting reform, including commissions, and even an open contest on the Web, where citizens can use geographic data to redraw the maps, she said. That's been done in Ohio, she said. It can be used to pressure legislators to improve the process.
"In Illinois, anything is better than the current system," she said.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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