U.S. Census Bureau Archives

Lawmaker worries northern Missouri’s flooding in recent years could impact Census numbers (AUDIO)

October 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(This is the second part of Brian Hauswirth’s two-part series on the status of the 2020 Census in Missouri)

A state lawmaker from northwest Missouri’s Carrollton is worried that the 2020 Census may miss residents who’ve been impacted by Missouri River flooding in recent years.

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 13, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, represents the Missouri House on the state 2020 complete count committee. Her sprawling district stretches from near Lexington to Mendon.

“The people that have been affected by the many floods we’ve had in the last ten years have been upended and maybe in some other part of their city, their county, the state, that just simply didn’t get reached,” McGaugh says.

While she’s pleased Missouri is trending at 90 percent-plus census completion, she wants to make sure that all residents are counted.

She says residents in the Missouri River sugar tree bottoms area were displaced for about seven months. Representative McGaugh’s district has seen flooding annually in recent years.

“The (39th) district here is so large and so rural that it would be difficult for maybe one person or a team to really, really go door-to-door and find these people,” says McGaugh.

McGaugh’s district takes about two hours to get from one side to the other.

She is pleased that the U.S. Census Bureau will continue its count through the end of October. McGaugh lives in the district of U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, a district with 36 counties that is larger than nine states.

“I worry about his (Congressman Graves’) area, the whole top of the state of Missouri that might get left alone and not get the money that the Census brings in for the roads and the infrastructure and the schools. I don’t want them to be forgotten,” McGaugh says.

During the 1990s, northern Missouri had three congressional districts. They were represented by then-U.S. Reps. Pat Danner, D-Smithville, Harold Volkmer, D-Hannibal, and Ike Skelton, D-Lexington. Today, northern Missouri has one district (Graves), with one or two counties being represented by U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, and Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville.

That’s because of northern Missouri’s continued drop in population numbers.

The 2020 Census aims to count every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories. The complete count committee is working to ensure an accurate count of everyone living in Missouri to secure federal funding and fair representation for Missourians during the next decade.

McGaugh praises Missouri 2020 complete count committee chair Karen Best, saying the former Branson mayor has done an excellent job. Former Mayor Best notes this year’s Census has been unprecedented, because of COVID-19.

Former Mayor Best says the committee’s goal is to submit a final report to the governor by November 30. McGaugh says she looks forward to helping with the final draft of the report to the governor.

McGaugh also emphasizes the effort has been bipartisan, saying it’s crucial that all residents in traditionally Democratic St. Louis and Kansas City are counted as well. She says it’s about ensuring that Missouri gets fair representation in the U.S. House.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, which was recorded on October 6, 2020:

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

June 5, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

The U.S. Census Bureau has ramped up its field operations again – trying to get an accurate count of Missouri’s most remote and rural communities via hand delivery of 2020 Census paper forms. John Shikles – with the governor’s office – oversees the Census in the state. He says Missouri is more diverse than people might think and a challenge is reaching the rural areas.

Census field operations underway in rural Missouri

“Those rural areas, this time around, with internet response – it’s been difficult to capture some of those responses because there are connectivity issues. There are a lot of people who just still are not comfortable giving information online when they would otherwise be okay with sending in a paper Census form. That mindset seems to exist more in our rural communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has really created difficulty getting those rural areas to respond to Census too,” he says.

For the first time in history, residents can complete the information online. According to Shikles, about 60.8% of Missourians have responded so far.

“It’s obvious that the pandemic has had an effect on everyone and it has really put people’s priorities into light,” says Shikles. “There’s a lot of people who feel the Census may just not be important right now, but we are here to remind them that it really is.”

The Census primarily helps Congress decide how to allocate federal funding.

“It’s a total number that includes school funding, nutrition funding, Medicaid, Medicare. Those numbers are based on our Census data and how many people that the Census Bureau estimates are living in the state of Missouri,” he says.

Shikles says the form is simple – and is not asking for certain details.

“The Census Bureau will never ask you for your social security number,” he says. “They’ll never ask you personal questions like your religion and they’ll never ask you for money. So, if you start getting requests like that, it’s definitely a red flag and you’ll want to call the Census Bureau and let them know what’s happening.”

Shikles has not heard any reports from Census takers running into problems from the recent public safety unrest.

October 31 is the new deadline to respond online or in the mail.

Clay to host Census job fair Saturday in St. Louis

February 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Noting that the U.S. Census Bureau is short of workers, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and the bureau are hosting a job fair Saturday afternoon at Harris-Stowe State University.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, (left) speaks to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) at November’s NGA groundbreaking ceremony in St. Louis (November 2019 file photo from Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd)

Congressman Clay, a senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says the job fair is aimed at helping St. Louis get a complete count.

Saturday afternoon’s job fair is from 1-3 at Harris-Stowe, inside the William L. Clay Early Childhood Center on North Compton.

The Census Bureau conducts the Census every ten years. The Census determines federal funding and also determines congressional maps, with population shifts. The 2010 Census essentially eliminated then-U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan’s district.

Clay notes more than $650 million in federal funding is annually allocated by the census data.

The bureau is actively seeking to hire neighborhood workers, and the Census jobs pay more than $20 per hour.

Congressman Clay describes the positions as the “best part-time job in America.”

“Not only are you earning good money, you’re helping our community get its fair share of federal funding and political representation at all levels,” Clay says.

2020 Census job applicants must be at least 18, have a valid Social Security number, be a U.S. citizen, have a valid e-mail address and be able to speak and write in English.

They also must undergo fingerprinting and pass a criminal background check. They also need access to a computer with internet and an e-mail account.