Summary
Requires the census to ask about citizenship and uses only the citizen count to decide how many representatives each state gets in Congress.
What problem does this solve?
The current method for counting people for Congress includes non-citizens, which some argue gives unfair political power to certain states. This bill changes the rule so only U.S. citizens are counted when deciding the number of representatives for each state.
What does this bill do?
Reference
Text:
Section:
Sec. 3(a)
Header:
Exclusion of noncitizens from number of persons used to determine apportionment...
Bases congressional representation on citizens only
Changes the law so that the number of representatives each state gets in Congress is based only on the number of U.S. citizens in that state, not the total population.
Adds a citizenship question to the census
Requires the 2030 census and all future censuses to include a question asking whether each person is a U.S. citizen.
Requires public reporting of citizenship data
Requires the Secretary to publicly report the number of citizens and non-citizens for each state within 120 days after the census is completed.
Includes a severability clause
Ensures that if one part of the act is found to be unconstitutional, the other parts will remain in effect.
Who does this affect?
- Non-citizens
- State governments
- U.S. citizens
What is the real world impact?
•
Ensures representation is based on the citizen population
Aims to align congressional representation with the population of individuals who are citizens, which proponents argue creates a more equitable system of political power among states.
•
Shifts political power between states
Basing representation on citizens instead of total population would likely reduce the number of congressional seats and electoral votes for states with large non-citizen populations, reallocating that power to other states.
•
Could discourage census participation
Critics argue that adding a citizenship question may cause fear in immigrant communities, leading to lower census response rates. This could result in an inaccurate count of the population, affecting federal funding and planning for all residents.
When does this start?
The main changes in this bill are scheduled to take effect starting with the 2030 U.S. Census.
New method for assigning representatives
The new rule for assigning representatives based on citizen population will start with the apportionment process following the 2030 census.
Citizenship question on census
The requirement to include a citizenship question will begin with the 2030 decennial census.
Public release of citizenship data
The government must release the citizen and non-citizen counts for each state no later than 120 days after each census is finished.