As the Country gears up for the decennial Census, the Chamber, in partnership with the City of San Antonio and other community organizations, are working to ensure an accurate census count in 2020. As the Founding Fathers envisioned, the census serves as a vehicle for informed decision making, giving civic and business leaders the tools to understand the nation’s social and economic progress and the means to address the needs of its people objectively and fairly. However, we face some serious challenges this time around.
The Department of Commerce slashed the Census budget by $5 billion and decided to go completely digital. However, we cannot be sure that this new format will result in an accurate count. In addition, the 2020 census will include a citizenship question, a question we haven’t seen on the form in more than 50 years.
We know that the new digital format and inclusion of a citizenship question will no doubt create additional barriers in a community like ours that is historically challenged with implementing the census. According to the latest Census estimates, approximately 25% of Bexar County's current population (or 469,564 people) live in hard-to-count neighborhoods. Without an accurate census count, more households in these and other neighborhoods in the county are at risk of being missed in the 2020 census.
Our community relies on an accurate census count to secure the federal resources that sustain our economic growth and ensure our region has fair federal representation. The San Antonio region is expected to see a population growth of more than one million residents by 2040. The census informs the distribution of more than $600 billion in federal funding for the cornerstones of economic growth including infrastructure, healthcare, education, and workforce training. It is imperative that San Antonio and the surrounding region is accurately represented in the census to strategically manage our growth and maintain our success. Any barriers to achieving an accurate count would hinder our ability to serve the needs of our growing community, of which 24.3% are living below the poverty level.
That is why your Chamber is prepared to tackle this issue head-on. This week, the City hosted the first stakeholder meeting at the San Antonio Food Bank. We joined more than 50 community organizations to discuss the importance of the census, goals, and strategies to advance a community-wide effort to obtain an accurate census count in 2020.
The next stakeholder meeting is set for August 6. Count on your Chamber to keep you up-to-speed on effort to ensure an accurate census count in 2020.
