The decennial census is a massive undertaking involving federal, state, tribal and local governments. The goal is to count as many people living in the country as possible.
Rep. Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa, introduced three measures to that end on the House floor on March 16, saying this is something the legislature has done ahead of every national population count since 2000.
The first is House Bill 3620, which creates a census count committee.
The 16-member committee would fall under the oversight of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and be appointed by legislative leadership, agency heads and the governor. Their mission would be to coordinate with the federal government to help count people in Oklahoma and centralize the data.
The need for that process calls for a data hub or clearinghouse. House Bills 3621 and 3622 establish exactly that, at the recurring cost of $500,000 annually. The number is based on a budget request from the commerce department this year, per a House fiscal impact summary.
Rep. Michelle McCain, D-Tulsa, asked whether the $500,000 price tag was typical for this process. Lawson said it was higher than normal due to a need for updated technologies.
“A new housing development or an apartment complex: those are all new addresses,” Lawson said. “911 addresses, physical addresses where humans live, where people …House Bill 3622 allows for the Department of Commerce to update their technology to do their part of the census.”
Rep. Gabe Woolley, R-Broken Arrow, asked why the federal government wasn’t funding the census preparation, considering it will lead the initiative.
Lawson pointed to the highest law of the land.
“The conduction of the census is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” he said. “A lot of those authorities are then passed down to the states. And this is how the state of Oklahoma has chosen to send that information to the United States Census Bureau.”
Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, is sponsoring the measures across the rotunda.
All three measures passed the House floor with overwhelming bipartisan support and are now available for consideration in the Senate.
