Title
Establishing the creation of a St. Paul - Ramsey County 2020 Census Joint Complete Count Committee.
Body
WHEREAS, The United States Constitution directs a decennial census count of all persons living in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Census is a count of all residents living in the United States; and
WHEREAS, census data is used to allocate billions of dollars in federal assistance to state and local governments for highways, hospitals, schools, public transportation and health programs; and
WHEREAS, Complete, accurate census data is of critical importance to all residents of City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County for equal political representation, fair distribution of federal and state funding, and sound planning and investment in infrastructure, real estate, business development, and public policy and programming; and
WHEREAS, in the 2010 Census, Minnesota’s response rate was 81% while Saint Paul’s census return rate was 79% and Ramsey County’s was 82%; and
WHEREAS, Broad areas of Ramsey County are at risk of being undercounted, with over half of the county’s census tracts having predicted mail response rates lower than 80% and ten tracts within the geographic boundaries of Saint Paul having predicted census response rates of less than 70%, lower than the state’s 2010 response rate as a whole; and
WHEREAS, Ramsey County and Saint Paul are home to large populations of people who, historically, have been disproportionately undercounted, including people of color, low-income households, students, non-English speaking people, and immigrants, with 64,056 of Saint Paul residents being foreign born; and
WHEREAS, the proposed addition of a question on citizenship status to the 2020 Census is widely expected to depress census response rates even further, as foreign-born residents and their families may avoid participation for fear that census data could be used to deport or otherwise target respondents and/or their family members; and
WHERE...
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