Montana looks to collect $2.05 billion, extra congressperson from 2020 Census

With the 2020 Decennial Census fast approaching, Montana is provided an opportunity of receiving more than $2 billion of federal funding and regaining a U.S. Congressional seat after 30 years.

"It's pretty important for Havre and Hill County, northern Montana and all of Montana that we get the census right in 2020," Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss said.

U.S. Census Bureau Partnership Specialist Jeri Bucy and Media Specialist Joshua Manning held a meeting Tuesday at Bear Paw Development with several leaders in the area, about the upcoming national census.

"As time has gone on, we really need to get our community leaders way more involved than it has been the case in the past," Bucy said.

The census happens every 10 years and is constitutionally mandated - the first one taking place in 1790, she said. She added that there has been a number of changes in the census due to the introduction of new technologies, but the census is still 100 percent confidential.

According to Title 13 of federal law, all information in the census is confidential from the public and even within the federal government, she said. Penalties for violating this law comes with a large fine of $250,000 and/or five years in prison. She added that the information from an individual is separated once it is processed to increase security and confidentiality and after 72 years the information is rejoined and released as public information. She added that they have never had a breach of information in the history of the census.

The census also has no influence on federal or state assistance programs, she said, their information cannot be used by any agency to determine any social services.

One of the things which has changed since 2010 is the use of the internet to fill out the census, she said. People will receive invitations to fill out the census online or can request a paper form. If people do not fill out either the paper census or the online census by May, the Census Bureau will send someone, a door knocker, to do an in-person census interview.

It is important that Montana tries to be as accurate as possible on the census, Bucy said. The census is used to allocate federal funding, and based on a study by George Washington University, Montana is looking at $2.05 billion on the line.

Also, Montana can possibly reclaim a U.S. Congressional seat. In 1990, because of the data collected in the census, Montana went from having two representatives in Congress to one. It was the first state in the union to lose a seat. Bucy said that Montana could also be the first state to reclaim a lost seat.

If Montana doesn't do a good job with the census, other states can be eligible for the federal funds, she added. In 2010, North Dakota excluded counting the oil workers during the oil boom and lost out on millions of dollars in funding.

"That is why it's important to have an accurate count," she said.

In the 2010 census, Montana had a slight overcount of 0.65 percent, ranking Montana the 11th state in the country in terms of accuracy, she said. Montana had a population of 989,415 people in 2010, and is estimated to have passed the million mark sometime in 2012 and is expanding at 1 percent growth rate.

In 2000, an estimated 14,390 people were missed in the census, which is equivalent to missing the entire population of Havre and then some, she said.

She added that tribal lands are historically undercounted around the nation, especially in Montana.

Montana is working to get better, more accurate counts, Bucy said, by educating people on the census almost a year before the census starts. The goals this year are to motivate people to respond, especially in more rural or hard-to-count areas, assure respondents that their data is confidential and secure, educate people on the importance of the census and support communities, and partner with organizations in mobilization efforts.

"The census should be a snapshot," she said, adding that the census invitations will be mailed in March and Census Day will be held April 1.

"Everyone needs to be counted once and only once, and in the right place," she said.

The general rule of thumb is that people should be counted at wherever they spend the majority of their time, such as colleges, she said. College students spend the majority of the year in the area where they go to school, so they need to be counted in that area. The census identifies where areas are of high population and where infrastructure needs need to be addressed. She added that people of a more transient nature, such as truck drivers or travelers, need to be counted wherever they are on April 1.

Bucy said that this year the state and federal government is also going for a more home-grown approach, hiring people native to the area to work for the Census Bureau. She added that residents are generally more comfortable with people who know their area or the state and will be more willing to answer the questions accurately.

In May, the Census Bureau will also start hiring doorknockers, people who go to the residence who haven't filled out the census at the time to conduct a personal interview, she said. She added that they are good paying jobs and have a waiver form so the temporary income doesn't affect an individual's assistance programs.

These jobs will be posted in several places, such as the Human Resource and Development Centers and Job Service Centers in Havre, she said, adding that the Census Bureau is offering 11,400 jobs in Montana during this time.

With the census approaching, scams are also on their way, she said. People should remember that door knockers are registered and individuals can call the Census Bureau to confirm the legitimacy of a door knocker.

The questions on the census will be:

-Name

-Age/date of birth

-Gender

-Race

-Ethnicity

-Household Relationships

-If the individual owns or rents their home.

These are the only questions that will be asked on the census, she said, the census will never include bank account information or request payment.

Invitations will be mailed in March. If a person receives their mail at their home address it will be delivered through the United States Postal Service. If an individual has a P.O. Box, the invitation will not be mailed, but delivered and attached to the front door of the resident's home.

In Hill County, Bucy said, 67 percent of the census invitations are mailed.

People can find more information about the census through the state's website census.mt.gov or visit the national Census Bureau's website.