Area residents will be hearing a lot more about the 2020 census in the coming weeks. In fact, that process is well underway.
Three separate meetings — two of which were related — took place in Emporia on Tuesday. Kansas 2020 Census Senior Partnership Specialist Steve Hale acknowledges there are concerns about exactly what happens to the data and how it’s used — or whether it’s confidential. He assures residents that it is.
Hale says all collected data belongs to the Census Bureau. President Trump gets the raw data before the end of the year. He then sends that data to Congress.
The data is vitally important at the state, county and city government levels. At the federal level, it sets the apportionment of representatives in Congress. At the state and more local levels, it directs billions of dollars in federal aid.
The League of Women Voters held an event at the Emporia Public Library, while USD 253 Migrant Education, Flint Hills Learning Center, St. Catherine Church and Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow held two related meetings at the Bowyer Community Building.
Emporia is well represented on the Kansas Counts census committee with City Commissioner Rob Gilligan and Emporia Public Library Director Robin Newell named to that board last year. Hale says the city also has a census committee, as does Emporia State University.
For more information, go online to www.2020census.gov or www.kansascounts.org.
