Tag: GateHouse Media

Wicked Local @Eli_Sherman Here we go again. He wouldn’t comment on whether the citizenship question adds any value to the census, but Behler told Wicked Local that mistrust in government was already a challenge before the question was even introduced. Population growth in Massachusetts over the last decade means the state isn’t likely to lose a congressional seat once the census count is complete in 2022. “In this environment, there’s a much more elevated distrust in government than what I’ve seen in the past.” The mistrust could translate into lower participation in the census, especially among immigrant communities, which is concerning to local and state officials. In Massachusetts, federal funding directly affected by census data in fiscal 2019 includes $290 million for special-education grants, $244.4 million for Title 1 grants to local education agencies and $79 million for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, along with many other programs, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. In 2010, the last time the census was taken, a half-million temporary workers were hired by the Census Bureau to collect the outstanding information. Behler expects it will require 350,000 workers in 2020, and the hiring process has already begun. “Being in the business of being the CEO and mayor of the city, dollars matter,” said Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch at the kickoff event. According to the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts, the number of people living in the Bay State grew 4.8 percent to 6.8 million between 2010 and 2017, representing the largest increase among Northeastern states. How much politics play into the process in Massachusetts, along with the government’s ability to accurately count a distrusting population, will ultimately be answered over the next few years, and municipal leaders are not blind to its significance.