PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia official is raising the alarm about changes the Trump administration has proposed for the 2030 census — it could reduce the city’s federal funding and political representation.
Under the proposed new rules, only citizens and green card holders would be counted in the census, not refugees or residents with student or worker visas.
City Commissioner Lisa Deeley is raising the alarm about the potential impact.
“This will reduce Philadelphia’s count by at least 100,000 people,” she said.
Deeley said a reduced population count would mean less federal money and potentially fewer seats in Congress and in the Electoral College.
She said another change seems to be aimed at shifting some of the population to conservative Southern states. Instead of asking where someone usually resides, the new census would ask where they spent the most time between Jan. 1 and April 3— prime season for “snowbirds” who live in the north but visit the south in winter. She’s also concerned about another change that would ban questions on race and ethnicity — questions that have been on the census since 1790 and have been used to prevent race-based gerrymandering.
“I’m concerned that this would have a devastating impact on Section 2 of the voting rights act,” said Deeley.
While the census is still far off, the time for public comment on the changes ends on Monday, Nov. 2, which Deeley thinks is no coincidence.
“When everyone is concentrating on the midterm elections, we have to also keep our eye over here. There’s something else going on,” said Deeley. “What’s going on is control of the legislative branches of government and trillions of dollars in federal funding.”
People can weigh in at regulations.gov/comment.
City Commissioner Lisa Deeley said public comment on the change ends on Monday, Nov. 2.
City Commissioner Lisa Deeley said public comment on the change ends on Monday, Nov. 2.
