An illustration of the 2020 census. (Image: Maria Dryfout, via Shutterstock)California launched an aggressive push through Thursday night to bolster its tally, immediately following a U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking the count. “We’re pulling out all the stops,” said Ditas Katague, director of California Complete Count, the state’s census office.
People walking along an Orange County sidewalk, following the creation of a census panel set up by former Gov. Jerry Brown. (Photo: Associated Press) As the country prepares for the important 2020 census, California is throwing more resources than ever into making sure its population is properly counted. The state already has set aside $100 million for the event, far more than either the $2.3 million in today’s dollars it committed in 2010 or the $28.8 million in today’s dollars it did in 2000.
U.S Census workers transfer birth data to punched cards, ca. 1940. (Photo: Everett Historical, via Shutterstock)The once-a-decade national census is still nearly two years away but it’s already generating heated discussion. Among the myriad concerns raised so far is that this survey will be the first conducted in part online. People are also expressing alarm over the inclusion of a new citizenship question, the wording for questions on race and ethnicity and the way prisoners are counted.