Location
Speakers
Asm. Marc Berman and Census Outreach Specialist Melissa Vergara
Assemblymember Marc Berman, Chair of the California Assembly Election and Redistricting Committee, and Melissa Vergara, U.S. Census Community Outreach Specialist, will discuss Census 2020 Learn what’s at stake and how you can help ensure an accurate count. All are welcome.
Why EVERYONE needs to participates in Census 2020:
It doesn’t matter if you’re a citizen, what your age is, or if you have had trouble with the law. Make sure to count everyone living at your address (citizens and non-citizens alike): including children, babies, parents, relatives, renters, couch-surfing friends, housemates, employees and people living in your pool house.
There is a lot at stake:
Without an accurate count, we won’t have appropriate representation in state and national government, or get our fair share of funding for critical state and local services. The potential damage here is estimated to be up to $10,000 in public funds per undercounted person in the next ten years, plus potential loss of Congressional seats.
This will hurt funding for public libraries, early childhood education, school lunch programs, health services, affordable housing, and homeless assistance. Budgets for road construction and public transportation might be cut, and plans for responding to natural disasters and emergencies could miss their mark. So it’s important that everyone is counted in Census 2020.
Squash rumors about risks to non-citizen participants:
- There will be no citizenship question in the census
- By federal law, the information you give on the census form is confidential and protected
- Each response gets combined with information from other households to produce statistics, so single households cannot be individually identified
- Census Bureau staff take an oath to protect response privacy — sharing details is a federal crime punishable by up to $250,000 and 5 years in prison
Get ready:
Starting in late March, heads of households can complete the questionnaire online, on paper, or via phone. No need for someone knock on your door! Come learn more March 5!
