The Census is mandated in the Constitution.The 23rd Census can have huge implications for Minnesota and St. Paul. The federal government distributes hundreds of billions in federal funds for schools, hospitals and transportation projects based on the Census. Significant undercounting of Minnesota’s population occurred in 1990 about 20,000 state residents were overlooked; 10 years later more than 14,000.

For every 100 people uncounted this year, Minnesota lose $1 million in funds over the next 10 years.

To boost participation among groups most likely to go uncounted, Main Street Project produced a free Community Census Guide in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong. Download at mainstreetproject.org or at the District 7 Planning Council, 533 N. Dale or the Martin Luther King Center, 270 N. Kent.

Sources for article include City of St. Paul and Steven Renderos, media justice organizer with the Main Street Project, a Mpls-based nonprofit giving people living in rural, urban communities the tools they need to more fully participate in all aspects of community life.