There’s a story in today’s Boston Globe that state officials are focusing lots of attention on this year’s state census to make sure we get an accurate count of people who live here.
The census count, which is required by the Constitution every 10 years, means a lot for our state.
According to the Globe article, Massachusetts could stand to lose billions of dollars in federal funding and perhaps even a congressional seat if the numbers fall far below the tallies from the last time the census was taken.
In fact, state officials and nonprofits are so concerned, they are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on outreach efforts to make sure the count is right, particularly among inner-city and immigrant communities, which are typically difficult to count.
Of course, I support efforts to make sure we get an accurate census count this year. It’s important to know not just how many people are here but also what our demographics look like, because that information helps us run our state effectively.
But what’s ironic is that state officials are paying such close attention to the counting process itself after having paid scant attention to the factors driving the numbers in the first place. Our state wouldn’t have to be so worried about ferreting out every possible census response so as to bolster our numbers if we had better policies in place to grow jobs here.
Managing our census effectively is good. But making sure our state offers high-paying jobs, quality education, affordable housing, low taxes and exceptional education opportunities is the best way to make sure people want to call Massachusetts home, not just in 2010 but for years to come.
What do you think? Please post a comment below.
