Council wants complete count

Officials considering ways to bolster U.S. Census participation in city

BRIDGEPORT — City officials often promote “know your numbers” health campaigns that encourage residents to get blood sugar and pressure screenings.

That same slogan could be applied to a new 2020 U.S. Census push by City Council mem- bers and state Rep. Christopher Rosario. They want Bridgeport to be as prepared as possible to get an accurate count of residents — particularly immigrants who are suspicious of or fear Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.

If Connecticut’s largest city, on paper, loses residents because of a lack of participation in the census, it could have a major impact on Bridgeport’s health in terms of cuts to federal aid and other services. And an under-count could, similarly, hurt the entire state, which lost a congressional district in 2003 following the 2000 national census.

“This is not just an issue that affects Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven,” said Councilwoman Maria Zambrano Viggiano. “I don’t see this as a city or urban center problem. I see this as a statewide problem.”

On Monday the council’s Miscellaneous Matters committee will take up a pair of 2020 censusrelated resolutions sponsored by Zambrano Viggiano and 11 other members of the all-Democrat legislative branch.

One calls for the creation of a so-called complete count committee to do census outreach — something the U.S. Census Bureau has encouraged communities to get done over the coming months ahead of the spring 2020 national count.

“I envision it would include our school district, local nonprofits, organizations which work with immigrant communities, public health, the faith community,” Zambrano Viggiano said. “People are more likely to fill out the census if it comes from somebody they trust.”

While elected officials always fret about a loss of population at census time, there is heightened concern about depressed participation because of Trump’s hard-

line approach to undocumented immigrants and, more specifically, the inclusion of a new citizenship question on the 2020 census.

The U.S. Census Bureau says on its website that the question helps “government and communities enforce laws, regulations, and policies against discrimination based on national origin.” And the bureau is “legally bound to strict confidentially requirements. Individual records are not shared with anyone, including federal agencies and law enforcement entities ...

Not the IRS, not the FBI, not the CIA, and not with any other government agency.” But critics see a political agenda. “Adding citizenship as a census question would break from decades of precedent and create a chilling effect on participation in immigrant communities,” state Attorney General George Jepsen said in April, when Connecticut joined one of several pending lawsuits to block the question.

“The census is the foundation of how government resources are allocated,” Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said at the time. “If people don’t participate it hurts all of us.”

Bridgeport is supposed to be an immigrant-friendly city. Local lawmakers last year

even implemented a municipal ID program open to all residents, but something that had been sought by immigrant advocates.

“But people are fearful because they don’t trust people in Washington,” Rosario said. “We have our work cut out for us to deal with our community and let them know it’s (the census) important. We need to work with the census and get this done.”

Rosario added, “On the surface it may seem like a Latino issue, but it effects all communities if our community is undercounted.”

Zambrano Viggiano added a practical economic reason for a correct count: “Businesses want to go to areas where population is going up, not down.”

The council’s Miscellaneous Matters Committee on Monday will also consider a related resolution opposing adding the citizenship question to the census.

Both of the census-related resolutions have enough sponsors — a dozen each — to pass the full-20 person City Council.

Less certain is whether the city or state will find any money in already tight budgets to support the efforts of a completecount committee.

“It will require some resources we may not have had in the past,” said Zambrano Viggiano, a co-chair of the council’s Budget Committee.

Rosario, who is running for re-election, pledged to seek state dollars for the effort.