The 2020 United States Census Made Easy

Students at the SAC are committed to educating their community about Census 2020. The students understand the importance of being counted in the census and want everyone to know the impacts. Students have launched Census Education programs and are determined to have everyone Stand Up and Be Counted!

Why Is The Census Important?

As mandated by the U.S. Constitution, our nation gets just one chance each decade to count its population. The U.S. census counts every resident in the United States. It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives (a process called apportionment) and is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities.

The next census in 2020 will require counting an increasingly diverse and growing population of around 330 million people in more than 140 million housing units. To get an accurate count, the Census Bureau must build an accurate address list of every housing unit, maximize self-response to the census, and efficiently follow up with those who do not respond.

8 Quick Facts about the Census:

1. 1. As the third largest and fourth fastest growing state in the country, an accurate count is essential for Florida to receive its fair share of federal funding, which is 1/3 of the state’s total revenue.
   2. The Census impacts everyone in the state of Florida for future spending on infrastructure, transportation, economic development, the arts, elder care and children’s programs, to name a few areas.
   3. An accurate census depends on the outreach of grass roots organizations like Student ACES – who are “trusted voices’ in our communities. Unfortunately, there is limited funding allocated for community-based organizations like ours to do this work.
   4. Community-based organizations’ grass roots outreach is essential to ensuring an accurate count and to do this work we need direct grant funding for staff, materials, computers and training. This has proved to be a best practice in assuring the count of hard to reach communities.
   5. We are pleased that the philanthropic community has stepped up to bridge the funding gap. Florida Counts Census 2020 is a statewide philanthropic initiative formed by eight 501(c)(3) nonprofit nonpartisan organizations throughout the state of Florida looking to raise philanthropic funds for Census 2020 outreach in Florida.  For more information on this initiative go to FLcounts.com.
   6. If Florida is under-represented by the count, it could cost the state billions of dollars.  This funding is not a handout – it is part of the approximately $200 billion in taxes that Floridians send to Washington, D.C. every year.
   7. Florida lost more than $20 billion in federal funding from the last Census in 2010 to 2020 because of omissions estimated by the Census Bureau to have been 7.5% of the population. (Source Florida Tax Watch)
   8. Census Basics – A count of the population every 10 years is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Includes everyone residing in the U.S., regardless of age, citizenship status, etc. The next count begins on April 1, 2020.