Colorado State Senators Garcia, Gonzales, and Winter Respond to Supreme Court Ruling on the 2020 Census
June 27, 2019
Denver, CO -- The United States Supreme Court today released its decision to refer the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census back to the lower courts. In response, Senate President Leroy Garcia (D-Pueblo), Senator Julie Gonzales (D-Denver), and Senator Faith Winter (D-Westminster) released the following statements:“Any decision that results in the removal of a citizenship question from the 2020 Census is a win. This type of question could result in thousands of Coloradans not being counted, impacting the billions of dollars in federal funding the state receives and possibly even our representation in Congress. We need to continue to work to make sure Colorado gets an accurate count,” said President Garcia, the first Latino to be elected as President of the Colorado State Senate. “Today is a blow to Donald Trump’s attempt to undermine the growing political power of communities of color, but we cannot rest a minute if we are going to ensure an accurate 2020 Census count. Colorado laid the groundwork and dedicated $6 million in funding to reach hard-to-count communities and ensure the most accurate Census data possible. But we need Coloradans in communities all across this state to take action and to help spread the word about the importance of the Census to get as many people counted as possible,” said Senator Gonzales, a longtime community organizer and social justice advocate. “It is absolutely critical that every Coloradan is counted. If we undercount, we are leaving tens of millions of dollars in federal funding on the table that supports rural schools, children’s health insurance, transportation infrastructure, and more. The census is not a partisan issue, and we’ve proven that here in Colorado by creating and funding a program with bipartisan support to ensure we reach hard-to-count communities and get the most accurate census count possible. We’re going to continue to work hard to make sure Colorado gets its fair share of representation and federal funding,” said Senator Winter, sponsor of HB19-1239 which allocates millions of dollars to ensure a complete Census count of all Coloradans.Colorado receives billions of dollars in federal funding tied to an accurate Census count, and even a one percent undercount would result in the loss of hundreds of millions of federal dollars over the course of a decade.
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