(HARTFORD, CT) – Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced today it would move forward with printing the 2020 Census and drop its efforts to add a citizenship question to the form:
"Today's decision by the Trump Administration to move forward with printing the 2020 Census forms and give up its ill-advised and unnecessary fight to add a citizenship question is a win for all Connecticut communities. Make no mistake, the damage has already been done given the climate of fear and distrust created by the Trump Administration. Thanks to documents revealed in the Supreme Court case, we know that their attempt to include a citizenship question was intended to discourage participation for partisan purposes. The stakes for the 2020 Census are high and Connecticut's Complete Count Committee will redouble our outreach efforts to ensure that everyone in our state is counted, including those in hard-to-count communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color."
On February 4, The Lamont-Bysiewicz Administration launched the Connecticut Complete Count Committee, a statewide effort ensuring Connecticut would be the best-counted state in the nation. Connecticut receives nearly $11 billion dollars from the federal government as a result of census numbers collected once every decade. These federal funds are used to fund vital state programs that Connecticut communities depend on including Medicaid, Pell Grants, children’s health insurance, highway planning & construction, nutritional assistance and many more.