2010 Census, Redistricting Around the Corner

Aug 05, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

State Gears up for Annual Head Count

(KCPW News) As the state gears up for the 2010 Census, demographers are reminding the public how important the official head count is for state funding and government. Research economist Pam Perlich of the University of Utah says the next census results will likely give Utah a fourth congressional seat after it narrowly missed the target by 856 residents in 2000.

"We came so close in 2000, that by 2001, if they had done the reapportionment, we would have had the seat by then," Perlich says.

Utah is poised to gain a Congressional district, along with other rapidly growing states, including Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Texas. Those slated to lose a seat include Iowa, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Redistricting will not only give the state another Congressman, but it will require the redrawing of all the legislative boundaries. This is a time-honored tradition rife with controversy, Perlich says.

"Whatever political party's in power, they redistrict to their advantage. It's just the way it goes, whether it's Democrats, Republicans or whatever. But there are certain rules in place, you know, that it can't be too egregious, therefore not too much gerrymandering," Perlich says. "But those legal requirements are generally pushed to the full extent to get the districts."

Lawmakers will know by January, 2011, whether the state will be given another Congressional Seat. Work has already begun on redrawing the state's legislative districts. A bill sponsored earlier this year by Democratic Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck would have created a bipartisan redistricting committee. The bill never made it out of the Rules Committee.

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