Common Cause Executive Director Amanda Gonzalez (left) and Outreach Director Caroline Fry (right) are joined by a coworker at the March For Our Lives event in Washington, DC, earlier this year.
In this month’s Community Thought Leader Spotlight, we feature the crucial work of Common Cause, and the importance and impact of its efforts to ensure an accurate, representative Census count.
For nearly 50 years – since 1970 – Common Cause has been committed to ensuring open, honest, and accountable government in Colorado and nationwide.
“As a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, we believe that government should reflect the people it serves,” says Caroline Fry, Outreach Director for Common Cause, based in Washington, DC. “And we believe that we’re better off when people from all walks of life participate in government to bring about equitable outcomes that truly represent our diverse communities.”
According to Caroline, the late John Gardner – founder of Common Cause and Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson – was all too aware that every special interest has its own lobby in Congress, except for the common man (sic). “In response, Common Cause was started as a way to make government representative of, and responsive to, the public,” she says. “The first state chapter of the organization was established right here in Colorado in 1971.
Specifically, Common Cause campaigns include – among others – addressing issues of ethics and accountability, tackling concerns around money and influence, engaging in policy reforms that protect everyone’s constitutional rights, providing voter education and registration, modernizing elections and conducting post-election audits, ensuring democracy through net neutrality, and addressing redistricting and gerrymandering ... including getting the 2020 Census right.
Caroline points out that in 2010, one in five Colorado households did not participate in the Census, and that a further undercount in 2020 would exacerbate the challenge of distorted political representation of our state. Caroline says that, traditionally, the hardest populations to count are older residents, youth and children, rural populations, and immigrants. [Click here for an interactive map of hard-to-count communities for the 2020 Census.]
“We’re worried that an undercount would take away congressional seats,” explains Caroline. “An undercount of Coloradans in the 2020 Census would negatively impact Colorado over the next decade in other ways, too. For example, the Census is directly linked to how much federal funding is allocated to states for Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program [known as CHIP], and other social welfare and safety-net programs, like housing assistance, head-start programs, emergency food assistance, as well as schools, hospitals, and more.
“That’s why we’re getting started now to educate people about the importance and impact of being counted. We’re organizing people to go into our communities – especially rural communities where one in four Coloradans doesn’t have access to high-speed Internet – to talk to people about filling out the Census.
“Studies have shown what even a one percent undercount will mean for federal dollars – it’s astronomical. Bottom line, we lose money for every person not accounted for.”
On empowering ordinary people to make their voices heard in the political process: "Everyone is organized but the people. Now it's the citizens' turn."
~John Garner, Common Cause Founder
“Our Constitution requires the Census to count every person who lives here every 10 years, and getting that count right is incredibly important for our state,” continues Caroline. “An accurate Census count has to do with political representation. Census data is used to calculate the number of representative seats allotted to each state – Colorado currently has seven seats, and we are predicted to gain an eighth seat in 2020.
“The Census is about everyone, yet the U.S. Census Bureau is poised to add a controversial, untested, and unnecessary citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Experts – those who have previously served on U.S. Census Bureaus, academics who have researched Census work, and others – are warning us that asking people whether they are a U.S. citizen would cause countless Americans to refuse to fill out the Census survey, regardless of their citizenship status.”
Adds Caroline, “The U.S. Census Bureau conducted a comment period that recently ended. With help from partners across the state and around the county, public education efforts resulted in some 250K comments directed to the Bureau against any citizenship questions.”
For Colorado Common Cause, Caroline and Executive Director Amanda Gonzalez collected more than 1K comments from among its 22K members and supporters. As it stands now, however, the citizenship question will be included in the 2020 Census, raising concern that those who fear a real or perceived deportation risk – and their allies – may opt out.
“An undercount from Colorado communities with high immigrant populations could result in both diminished representation and monies for our state, which means we all lose,” concludes Caroline. “2020 may seem like a long time away. But we need to be thinking about how to ensure an accurate Census count in Colorado now, and to build coalitions with other nonprofits and partners* to educate the public and get everyone to participate in the Census.
“This isn’t a political issue. No matter your stance, it’s about counting every person in the United States, which is essential to allocating representation and federal resources in the next 10 years.”
Get involved:
Learn more here* about the #CountColorado team, and stay updated on 2020 Census news and actions in our state. Additionally, Caroline and Amanda are standing by to answer your questions, or to speak to nonprofits and other groups about the citizenship question … and the overall impact of an accurate Census count in our state. Contact Caroline directly.
Background information and resources:
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Report: Why a Fair and Accurate Census Matters to Thriving Private and Public Sectors
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With Latinos now the nation’s second largest population group and one out of every six Americans, full and accurate data about the Latino community are critical for our country’s economic, social and civic well-being. As such, the Naleo Educational Fund provides Census information and resources in both English and Spanish.
*Community Foundation Boulder County has provided these links to promote information-sharing and civic engagement, which does not constitute an endorsement of the entirety of content and viewpoints provided on the Common Cause and Naleo websites.