Thursday afternoon, Georgia governor Brian Kemp announced the state’s campaign to compel Georgians to participate in the 2020 Census. The “Every. One. Counts.” initiative is to encourage all Georgia residents to respond to the questionnaire.
“This campaign will work closely with census-focused organizations at the state, local, and federal levels to ensure Georgia is best prepared for the next decade,” Kemp said in his announcement.
The campaign is lead by the state’s complete count committee, a group of politicians, civic leaders and nonprofit partners from all areas of Georgia. The committee is working in concert with the U.S. Census Bureau and local partners in Georgia to get the word out and secure strong participation in the 2020 census.
Today, I announced the official launch of Georgia's 2020 #Census campaign – Every. One. Counts. – led by the state's Complete Count Committee. (1/3) #gapol pic.twitter.com/iJbDIzeQQK
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) January 3, 2020
A population count is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and has taken place in some form since 1790. The bipartisan group Governor Kemp has assembled aspires to educate residents in the state about the importance of the census and how data collected will be used as a guide for decisions made by federal agencies for the next 10 years.
According to the Governor’s office, two members of the Governor’s Complete Count Committee, Lori Geary and Tharon Johnson, will serve as co-executive directors of the statewide marketing campaign for the 2020 census that was launched by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
“We are honored that Governor Brian Kemp asked us to serve as co-executive directors of Georgia’s Complete Count Committee,” said Lori Geary and Tharon Johnson. “It is vital that every man, woman, and child are counted in the 2020 census so that our state gets the right amount of federal funding and the right number of congressional seats. We look forward to working with the Complete Count Committee to make Georgia a national leader in census efforts.”
Georgia’s 2010 count of more than 9.6 million residents lead to a new congressional seat and provided the state with nearly $16 billion in federal funds.
“The census impacts everything from your representation in congress to federal funds that benefit your community on critical issues including healthcare, education and transportation,” Kemp said Thursday.
Residents will begin receiving invitations to fill out their census online, by phone or via mail in mid-March. Census Day is April 1, 2020.
