Senator Myrie Issues Statement on the Release of Census Funds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 2019

Contact: Jonathan Timm, timm@nysenate.gov, 313-618-7005

Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie made the following statement regarding Governor Cuomo's announcement on the release of census outreach funding: 

“After long delay and consistent calls from hard-to-count communities, we are pleased to see that the governor's office has made the census funding available for our communities and plans to leverage state agencies to conduct census outreach. This is much needed and overdue. 

"But, as always, the devil is in the details. It is still unclear to us whether historically under-counted communities, like Brooklyn, will receive a proportion of the funding that is commensurate with their unique need and, whether that funding will be dispersed as expeditiously as possible given how close the census is. We thank the community groups who've been advocating for this funding for months, and hope that as many of them as possible will be included in the process going forward. 

"This is an important step forward and we will continue to engage with the governor's office to ensure that our community gets the resources it needs for the census." 

Background on Senator Myrie's census outreach efforts:

• Senator Myrie has held numerous census information sessions throughout district 20.
• In September, Senator Myrie penned a joint letter to the governor's office with 33 Brooklyn elected officials calling for the release of adequate census funding to Brooklyn, where 80 percent of residents live in hard-to-count neighborhoods. 
• In October, Senator Myrie launched a census Complete Count Committee with Assembly Member Diana C. Richardson and more than 20 community-based organizations in an effort to expand awareness and engagement in the census.
• In November, Senator Myrie called on the governor to release the state's census funds without further delay.
• This past Friday, Senator Myrie published an op-ed in the New York Daily News arguing that funding census outreach is a racial justice imperative and again demanded that the governor's office release the funds. 
   

###