Stand Up & Be Counted: The Census is Coming!

 Stand Up & Be Counted: The Census is Coming!
An Important Message from Senator Onorato

       It’s just about that time again!  Every ten years, the Federal Census
comes around to count the number of people in the United States and
collects population information that is used to determine funding for
various government programs, as well as our representation in Congress.

       Census workers have already been canvassing neighborhoods throughout New York to determine accurate addresses for every household and residence in the state.  These accurate and up-to-date address lists will be used by the United States Census Bureau to mail out census forms this coming March, with the forms to be completed and returned on April 1st.  The forms are simple to fill out: they only have ten questions, and should only take about ten minutes to fill out.

       I cannot stress the importance of participating in the Census, and I
urge all of you to stand up and be counted.  An accurate count determines the amount of money our state receives from the federal government for roads, schools, hospitals and other important programs and services.  In 2000, the last time the Census was conducted, a large number of people living in New York were not counted, and we lost out on millions of dollars in federal support.  For every New Yorker counted in the 2000 Census, our state receives almost $2000 a year – or more than $38 billion – from federal programs funded on the basis of population.

       When those census forms start arriving in your mailboxes in March, I urge you to fill them out and return them so that our communities and our State get our fair share.  It’s also important to remember that your census information is private; the Census Bureau is prevented by law from sharing it with any person or government agency.  By making sure we get an accurate count, we have nothing to hide, nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

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Janet K. Kash
Chief of Staff and Director of Communications
Office of State Senator George Onorato
Room 310 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY  12247
Ph: 518-455-3486
Fax: 518-426-6929