Thursday was the final day to provide the Census Bureau with information for its count. The census has been performed in ten-year intervals since 1790 and is prescribed by the United States Constitution. The data is used for many purposes, including allocating federal funding for anything from transportation projects to healthcare spending. First, a report must be delivered to the President by the end of this year, and congressional reapportionment begins no later than April of next year. Public Affairs Specialist Jewel Jordan emailed DoorCountyDailyNews.com to share information from the Congressional Research Office on the process.
Each state is guaranteed one seat in the US House of Representatives. The remaining 385 are determined via a formula that has been in place since 1941. In 2010, Wisconsin's roughly 5.8 million residents earned it seven additional congress members. Districts are supposed to have roughly equal population. In Wisconsin, they are created by the legislature. State Assembly and State Senate maps are also redrawn using Census information. The process must be completed before the 2022 general election.