Op/Ed: Make it Count: The 2020 Census

Every ten years we are asked to do one of the easiest, safest, and most important things we can do for our communities: fill out our census form. Since 1790, per Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, the census has determined how federal dollars reach communities like ours, as well as ensuring those communities have a voice in Montana and our nation's capital. When you are counted, your community is counted.

Starting in mid-March, Montanans will receive correspondence noting the many ways they can respond to nine simple survey questions. 2020 marks the first-year households can respond online at 2020census.gov. If you prefer responding by mail or phone those options are available, too!

Census Day is April 1, 2020 and it's an important date for several reasons. Not only is it a reminder that your community is counted when you are counted, but it also reminds us that regardless of when the survey is taken, it is important to be counted where you live on April 1. Examples include students at Carroll who may be from somewhere else but are living in Helena on April 1 should be counted in Helena. Parents that share custody of children should count those children where they are living on April 1. There are plenty of other scenarios, but the bottom line is to count yourself where you live on April 1.

Speaking of children, it is estimated 5% of kids under the age of five were not counted in the 2010 Census. That is about 1 million young children, or a dollar amount equal to $20 billion dollars in missed funding opportunities for the communities where those children live. This funding goes to programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Program, the National School Lunch Program, and can help determine whether a new playground gets built in your neighborhood. Invest in your child's future by making them count in the 2020 census.

The census is the easiest way to bring federal dollars to our rural residents who need roads, bridges, healthcare, grants, cooperative extension services, education, and economic development. While our rural landscapes experience gradual growth, they are still growing. The growth comes with a cost and the census is the way our nation decides how to balance those costs for the services and benefits our communities need and want. If we don't have an accurate count for 2020, the effects will last for the next decade.

I count. You count. Newborns count. Cows don't count, but ranchers do. Dogs also don't count, but veterinarians do. Everyone counts. And I am counting on all of you to make sure that we get our fair share for the next decade because when you are counted, your community is counted.

Andy Hunthausen

L& C County Commissioner

Emily Dean

Helena City Commissioner

James Schell

East Helena Mayor