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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
293 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the governor to educate the public on the need for an accurate census count for purposes of an accurate congressional representation.
WHEREAS, under federal law, the President of the United States is required to transmit a statement in January 2011 to the one hundred and twelfth United States Congress on the population of each state, as ascertained under the 2010 decennial census, and the number of representatives to which each state is entitled, provided that no state receives less than one member, under an apportionment of the then existing number of representatives, which is currently 435, by the method of equal proportions, under which the possibility exists that a state can lose or gain seats depending upon the relative population of the state in the total population of the union; and
WHEREAS, federal law also requires the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives to send to the governor of each state a certificate of the number of representatives to which the state is entitled, as shown in the President's statement to Congress; and
WHEREAS, in March 2010, the United States Census Bureau will mail or deliver to every household in the United States census questionnaires for the 2010 decennial census, requesting information that is accurate for each household as of April 1, 2010; and
WHEREAS, the 2010 decennial census will be a "short-form only" census and will count all residents living in the United States as well as ask for name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship and housing tenure, and is intended to require only minutes to complete; and
WHEREAS, the United States Census Bureau will mail a second form to households that do not respond to the initial questionnaire, and for households that still do not respond, the households will be called or visited by a census worker; and
WHEREAS, the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the President by December 31, 2010, for the President to be able to transmit the required statement in January 2011 to Congress; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii currently has two members in the House of Representatives, and with the next census count, there is a possibility that Hawaii would be entitled to have three members, two members, or one member in the House of Representatives, depending upon the relative population of the State in the total population of the union; and
WHEREAS, a state's resident population consists of those persons "usually resident" in that state (where they live and sleep most of the time), and a state's apportionment population is the sum of its resident population plus the count of overseas United States military and federal civilian employees (and their dependents living with them) allocated to the state, as reported by the employing federal agencies; and
WHEREAS, it is therefore of paramount importance that each resident in this State participate truthfully in the 2010 decennial census; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Governor is requested to educate the public on the need for an accurate census count for purposes of an accurate congressional representation and to urge every household to participate in the census; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Congress