Analysis: Census change would hurt Texas, California in Congress seats
October 28, 2009
A Republican senator's proposal to count only U.S. citizens when reapportioning Congress would cost California five seats and New York and Illinois one each, according to an analysis of census data released Tuesday. Texas, which is projected to gain three seats after the 2010 census, would get only one.
Written by Wire Reports, Austin-American Statesman
A Republican senator's proposal to count only U.S. citizens when reapportioning Congress would cost California five seats and New York and Illinois one each, according to an analysis of census data released Tuesday. Texas, which is projected to gain three seats after the 2010 census, would get only one.
The proposed change would spare Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania the expected loss of one seat each. Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon and South Carolina would gain a seat.
If every resident — citizens and noncitizens alike — is counted in 2010, as the Census Bureau usually does, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah would gain one seat each and Texas would get three, the analysis found.
Losing a seat each would be Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the analysis of census data through 2008 by demographers at Queens College of the City University of New York.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said that a vote against his proposal would "strip these states of their proper representation in Congress." The proposal's prospects are considered doubtful.
Other census data released Tuesday offer the first detailed look at U.S. migration data, broken down by education and income, since the recession began in late 2007. The data show that many college graduates are passing up industrial centers and former hot spots in the Southwest in favor of life in urban, high-tech meccas.
The data covering 2006-2008 show that Austin, Portland, Ore., Charlotte and Raleigh, both in North Carolina, and Seattle saw large jumps in residents with at least a college degree.
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