Since we are getting plenty of information about the Coronavirus in the media, I would like to instead discuss another important topic. We are right in the middle of the first responses for the decennial Census, and I want to focus on why you should take time out of your altered schedule to answer the online questions mailed to your residence. I hope you will join me and other local, county and state officials in being counted and helping others understand why it’s so important.
The purpose of the Census is simply to get a headcount of citizens and find out what the needs are of these families, communities, counties and states in order to fairly distribute hundreds of billions of federal funds around the nation for vital government services and programs. These include school programs, healthcare needs, roads, nutrition programs and other much-needed social programs. It’ll also help for emergency funding, such as the recent CARES Act enacted by the federal government that is going to send much needed stimulus and recovery money based on population.
The Census numbers will determine how the federal funds are divided among cities, counties and states to determine where communities need new schools, clinics, roads and additional services for citizens, especially children, the elderly and disabled.
Due to 2010 Census results, George State University found that Oklahoma in FY’2016 received just over $9.36 billion through 55 federal spending programs including, among others, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, CDBG, national school lunch programs, Pell grants, highway planning and construction grants, and HUD grants. Unfortunately, we missed out on additional funding for the 25% of Oklahomans who didn’t participate. Otherwise, we would have received much more federal funding. It’s estimated that for every Oklahoman counted in this Census, the state will receive around $1,700 in federal funding per year for the next ten.
The population counts will also determine congressional representation and provide crucial data for businesses, communities, nonprofits and government agencies over the next decade.
There are less than ten questions on the survey including your age range, who lives in your home, your race and a few other basic questions just to help the federal government gage what government programs or services you might utilize.
As of Monday morning, Oklahoma was lagging behind the national average response rate 29.7% to 33.1%. Here are the participation rates in the counties in Senate District 38 -
* Custer County - 27.5% (62.6%, 2010 rate)
* Greer County - 25% (58.2%, 2010 rate)
* Harmon County - 26% (47.7%, 2010 rate)
* Jackson County - 28.3% (61.8%, 2010 rate)
* Kiowa County - 23.7% (52.4%, 2010 rate)
* Washita County - 20.1% (57.7%, 2010 rate)
While we’re practicing social distancing, let’s help our state and local communities by filling out our Census surveys.
know information about COVID-19, rules, assistance and programs is changing constantly so more up-to-date information can be found on the direct agency and government websites as well as the state’s main COVID website at COVIDResources.ok.gov. If you have symptoms or have other questions about the state’s response, you can also call 211 for help.
We’ll be working from home at least one more week but I’m checking emails and phone messages constantly. Feel free to contact me at Brent.Howard@oksenate.gov or (405) 521-5612.
Brent Howard represents District 38 in the Oklahoma State Senate.