Dear Fellow Mississippians,

I am writing to ask you to take the time to complete your census survey as soon as you receive your card in the mail after March 12.  It has never been more important for every person in Mississippi – every man, woman and child – to be counted.  Our federal funding depends on it.

For every person who is not counted, our state will be shortchanged by about $50,000 over the next 10 years.  For example, if there are 4 people living in your house, and you account for those 4 people, they represent on average $200,000 in federal funding Mississippi will get over the next 10 years for roads, bridges, schools, medical programs and support for children. Think about that.  If just one person can fill it out for your household, it makes a difference for all of us.

I’m counting on all of us coming together to do our part to help our state provide the best for our citizens.  On top of funding, we must make sure our full population is counted so we have proper representation in our federal and state government.

In the last census in 2010, over 265,000 of us were not counted. Based on the numbers above, if this happens again, we will miss out on up to $13.2 billion dollars for our state.