Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez to lead the state’s 2020 U.S. Census efforts. Nunez will chair Florida’s Complete Count Committee, whose members were also named Monday.
The 19-member committee will coordinate with the U.S. Census Bureau in conducting the constitutionally required census between March and June. The census is conducted every 10 years and leads to a redistribution of congressional seats across the country based on population, with some states gaining seats, others losing seats and many remaining the same.
The population numbers also are used in distributing federal funding to states. Florida’s estimated population stood at just under 21.48 million as of July 1, a nearly 1.1 percent increase from a year earlier, according to Census Bureau’s national and state population figures released last week. The Virginia-based political consulting firm Election Data Services has projected the swelling population in Florida would push the Sunshine State’s U.S. House delegation from 27 to 29 members.
Among the members of the Complete Count Committee are Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo; Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Executive Director Danny Burgess; state Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz; Coalition of Florida Farm Workers Executive Director Arturo Lopez; AARP Florida State Director Jeff Johnson; State University System Board of Governors member Brian Lamb; NAACP Florida State Conference Chair Marsha Ellison; Associated Industries of Florida President and CEO Tom Feeney; and Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson.
–News Service of Florida