PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island’s governor created a committee on Friday to increase awareness about the 2020 census and motivate residents to respond.
Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order establishing the Rhode Island Complete Count Committee to ensure the census doesn’t undercount segments of the population.
“The results of this census will have serious implications for our state for the next decade, which is why it’s so important that every single Rhode Islander is counted,” Raimondo said in a statement. “This committee will help us do just that.”
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Rhode Island’s population was 1,057,315 for 2018. The state is projected to lose one of its two U.S. House seats if the estimation holds in the 2020 census.
The census results will also affect how much federal funding communities receive, Raimondo said.
The committee will develop and coordinate an outreach program aimed at groups that have been traditionally undercounted in previous census processes.
These groups include racial and ethnic minorities, non-fluent English speakers, low-income and homeless people, immigrants living in the country illegally, young adults, children and members of the LGBTQ community, according to Raimondo’s office.
The mayor of Central Falls and the state’s health director will lead the committee. They’ll look at distributing information about the census in schools, partnering with nonprofits and developing a multimedia campaign in several languages.
The committee’s first report is due to the governor and General Assembly by March 1.
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