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Thursday, March 18, 2010
Official Says Census Worth 'Money and Power'
By Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Journal Staff Writer
When a census form comes in the mailbox this week or next, think of it as a check you've got to sign.
Billions in federal money that is distributed according to census results comes to New Mexico every year.
The 10-question survey should take about 10 minutes to complete, Cathy Lacy, Census Bureau regional director, said Wednesday.
"It's less information than a credit card application," Lacy said.
She said cities in New Mexico will get census surveys first, and rural parts of the state should have theirs by the end of next week. The postage is already paid on the forms, so there's no cost to mail them back to the government.
All the information is strictly confidential, Lacy said.
"Nothing is more important to us than protecting that data," she said.
A recent Brookings Institution report said of the $3.8 billion in census-related funding the state received in 2008 that about 63 percent went to health care programs; 11 percent to education, training, employment and social services; 10 percent to transportation; and 9 percent to income-security programs. Other areas that received some money were agriculture, energy and housing programs.
The $3.8 billion accounted for 40 percent of all federal money New Mexico received in 2008, or about $1,900 spent per person in the state, the report said. The federal government distributed nearly $450 billion in census-related money in 2008.
"The census is money and power," Lacy said.
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