Activists worried over financing census
Some say inaction by Cuomo belies rhetoric about complete count
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has yet to put the state’s money where his mouth is when it comes to counting every New Yorker in next year’s census.
For nearly a year, the governor has stressed the importance of a complete count in New York and criticized proposed changes to the census questionnaire that might deter participation.
The current state budget, negotiated by Cuomo and legislative leaders a year ago, set up the 16-member Complete Count Commission to prepare the state for the 2020 count, which will determine the size of the state’s congressional delegation and affect the amount of funding that
flows from Washington, D.C.
“Let’s go out there and count every New Yorker so we get what we deserve in the state of New York,” Cuomo said last month during his budget address, prompting abundant applause.
His budget proposal, however, failed to specifically identify any funding for outreach or infrastructure to prepare for the census. Activists and state lawmakers were hoping for a targeted investment of at least $40 million.
The Complete Count Commission, meanwhile, was supposed to submit a report containing its recommendations by Jan. 10. That deadline came and went with no submission. One possible impediment: The governor didn’t make his eight appointments to the commission until 18 days after the deadline passed, nearly 10 months after the passage of legislation creating the panel.
Cuomo spokesman Jason Conwall said the state will launch a comprehensive campaign following the release of recommendations from the Complete Count Commission. “To support this effort, funds will be made available through Empire State Development,” he said, referring to the state’s economic development arm. Conwall did not explain the delayed appointments from the governor.
The absence of funding and a seeming lack of urgency from the administration is “surprising” when contrasted with Cuomo’s rhetoric on the issue, said Lauren Moore, who was appointed to the commission by the state Assembly’s Republican conference.
Moore, chairwoman of the New York Library Association’s census 2020 task force, had hoped the budget would include at least $40 million to provide libraries with the resources they need to help the 20 percent of New Yorkers without internet access participate in what is considered the first-ever “digital census.”
Libraries could naturally fill this niche, as they’re already the source of internet access for many rural communities and low-income households.
State funding would be used to train library personnel to assist New Yorkers completing the digital questionnaire and ensure the facilities are equipped with the appropriate technology, including data security.
“It’s not as simple as directing someone to a computer,” Moore said.
A statewide coalition of community organizations is also calling for a $60 million state investment in community outreach to promote census participation. According to the group, targeted outreach on parts of Long Island for the 2010 census resulted in a 21 percent increase in response rates.
A study by the progressive Fiscal Policy Institute calls for at least $40 million for local outreach, which would be in addition to separate state funding for outreach and media campaigns.
The FPI predicts New York’s count will require more outreach than other states’ efforts because of the disproportionate share of “hard-to-count” populations,— including immigrants including refugees, low-income residents, rural communities, the homeless and non-english speakers.
“More than ever before, trusted community voices will be needed to help build bridges to maximize participation in the Census,” reads the report.
Without a substantial investment by New York, Moore said, “It’s going to be a mess in 2020.”
The Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, a nonprofit focused on families living in poverty, warned that the state needs to allocate funding in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins April 1.
Other states are already beginning to spend on outreach and infrastructure, including California, which invested $90 million last year and proposed another $50 million this year.
It’s not clear when the Complete Count Commission will produce its report, as the panel has yet to meet publicly and the state Senate’s Democratic majority has not yet appointed its three members. Assembly Democrats made their appointments in August; it’s not clear if Senate Republicans have tapped anyone yet.
Moore, who has been in contact with administration officials since her appointment last year, said staff in the governor’s office began working on the project for “several months” before Cuomo made his appointments.
“I hope we have an opportunity to make meaningful contributions,” she said. “I hope it’s not us just signing off on a
document.”
A group of Democratic state senators urging outreach funding maintain that the state didn’t invest enough in the 2010 count, and the resulting undercount of 600,000 New Yorkers cost $1.5 billion in annual federal aid.
In a policy brief, the Schuyler Center warned that a failure to fund such efforts now would make it “too late to undertake the concerted and widespread outreach efforts that will be needed” to avoid an undercount even worse than 2010’s results.
Following that census, New York lost two of its seats in the House of Representatives. The state’s delegation is poised to shrink from 27 to 25 after the next census, based on an analysis by Election Data Services of updated population estimates.
But the loss of a second seat is not a foregone conclusion, according to the analysis. Depending on what happens in other states, a robust count could mean that New York only loses one of its representatives.
“The impacts of an undercount would haunt us for a decade,” the Schuyler Center warned.