First bits of census data being released today

Sara Myers
Del Rio News-Herald
December 21, 2010

U.S. Census Bureau officials will release the first set of 2010 census data, a determination of how many House of Representatives seats each state will receive, today.

The 2010 Census data to be released will include the resident population for the nation and the states as well as the congressional apportionment totals for each state. The law requires the Census Bureau to report these results to the President by Dec. 31.

Each state can gain or lose congressional representatives based on the census population count.

Texas gained two House seats during the 2000 apportionment, bringing the total to 32 state representatives.

The Associated Press has reported Texas could gain at least three and possibly four seats in Congress as a result of the congressional apportionment process, as population trends continue to push people into the south and southwest regions of the country, commonly referred to as the sunbelt areas.

According to the U.S. Census Web site, apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states, based on the population figures collected in the census every 10 years.

The constitution calls for representatives to be apportioned among the states according to their respective numbers.

Census officials report that Congress has used this method of equal proportions since 1940.

The constitution calls for each of the 50 states to have at least one House seat, which is subtracted from the current house total of 435 seats, leaving 385 seats to distribute.

According to the U.S. Census, in 1790, each house member represented about 34,000 people, whereas in 2000, each member represented on average 647,000 people.

Census officials also note that since the first census, the decennial count has been the basis for our representative form of government.

The apportionment process ensures equal representation for all, as the country continues to grow.

Article 1, section 2, of the Constitution mentions the purpose of the census, empowering the Congress to carry out the census in "such manner as they shall by Law direct".

The idea was to count every person living in the newly created United States of America, and use that count to determine representation in the Congress.

Today, The Census Bureau explains the form is also used to help determine how to distribute more than $400 billion dollars to communities nationwide.

During the first census, taken in 1790, marshals took information from residents of the original 13 states, plus the districts of Kentucky, Maine, and Vermont and the Southwest Territory (Tennessee). Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson was nominal supervisor of the census on Census Day, August 2, 1790.

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Apportionment:

The process of dividing the seats in the House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the population figures collected during the decennial census. The number of seats in the House has grown with the country. Congress sets the number in law and increased the number to 435 in 1913. The Constitution set the number of representatives at 65 from 1787 until the first Census of 1790, when it was increased to 105 members.

But how does apportionment actually work? Through animation, the U.S. Census Bureau helps explain how the apportionment formula is used to ensure equal representation for all, just like the Founding Fathers planned.

Reference Links

* US Census Bureau