2020 Census

New York Pledges to Protect the Integrity of the Census

The U.S. Constitution requires a count of the nation’s population — or census — every ten years to determine the number of congressional representatives for each state. The government also uses census data to distribute an estimated $600 billion dollars in federal funding annually.

It's critical that every New Yorker is counted to ensure our fair share of federal funds for programs essential to health care, education, housing, economic development and transportation, and to strengthen our political representation in Washington.

The United States Census Bureau recently announced plans to add a question about citizenship status to the survey for the first time since 1950, which could undermine tested, science-based efforts to achieve an accurate count. To protect the integrity of the census, New York State has joined several states in litigation to reverse this decision and ensure everyone — without regard to status — is counted.

To accomplish this, we need to work together — local governments, community agencies, and you, the people of the great state of New York — to make sure every New Yorker is counted in 2020.