Rep. Peña Joins National, State and Local Organizations Calling for Complete Census Count

Austin - State Representative Aaron Peña has joined a group of community organizations from across the state and nation in calling for a comprehensive and complete census count. MALDEF in collaboration with grassroots partners has formed the Texas Latino Complete Count Committee in order to reach the hardest to count communities. Representative Peña joined the group at a press conference in Austin recently to announce the initiative.

"My community of Hidalgo County is ranked number eleven in the country for the number of people living in hard to count areas and we are number two in the percentage of people living in hard to count areas," said Rep. Peña. " It is so important that Texas has a statewide strategy for an accurate and complete census count. We have just received a briefing in the House Committee on Redistricting and Texas has a chance of a minimum of three new congressional seats with a good count but a shot at four new congressman with a great count."

Texas has the second highest hard-to-count areas in the country. Populations in these areas include children and residents who are low-income, lack a high school diploma, are limited English proficient, live in multi-family homes, receive public assistance, and/or are highly mobile. The 2000 Census left an estimated 373,567 people in Texas uncounted. As a result, Texas missed out on approximately $2,913 in federal funds per person – a total loss of over $1 billion over the last decade. This decade, due to population growth, Texas is expected to gain three or four congressional seats in the next redistricting cycle. The difference of one congressional seat for Texas means billions of dollars for our communities. An accurate Census count will give Texas a greater share of the over $400 billion distributed annually to communities across the country for important programs such as school construction, early childhood programs, services to the elderly, job training and infrastructure development. These are funds that Texas needs to create more jobs, build good schools and provide important services for our community.

"An accurate and comprehensive count in the Rio Grande Valley will play a pivotal role in whether or not Texas gains four new congressman," said Rep. Peña. "More importantly a great count for South Texas can mean that one of those new seats will be created in our community. With the continued growth of our population and the expansion of our economy we can not afford to miss out this redistricting cycle.

Partners in the Texas Latino Complete Count Committee include: LULAC, SVREP, WCVI, TACHE, MATT, AFL-CIO, HACU, IDRA, Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, Texas Media Empowerment Project, Southwest Workers Union, the Rio Grande Guardian, TABE, and the University Leadership Initiative.