DETROIT - U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Dennis F. Hightower and Lieutenant Governor John D. Cherry, Jr. today kicked off Michigan's 2010 census campaign, "It's in Our Hands, Michigan."  Cherry was named Michigan's complete count chair earlier this year to oversee the state's census efforts.  Michigan is working with state agencies to promote the census through communications they have with local communities and constituencies.
 
"It is vitally important that all residents get counted in the 2010 census," Cherry said.  "Being counted translates to $1,000 every year for our roads, schools, health care, housing and poverty relief."
 
Michigan also has a unique problem in that it has more snowbirds than many other states, with an average of 2.1 percent of Michigan's residents identified as part-year residents.  Most of Michigan's part-year residents have their permanent homes in Michigan and spend the smaller part of the year in another state, which means they need to be counted in Michigan.
 
"Michigan residents who spend a smaller portion of the year at a residence in another state should be sure to fill out the census form for Michigan," Cherry added.  "There are dramatic financial impacts for Michigan, and we need to be sure that our residents are counted here and not in another state."
 
Quick facts regarding the 2010 Michigan Census:

-  In Michigan, for every person NOT counted, our state loses $10,000 ($40,000 for a family of four) to other states over the course of 10 years.
-  The census also determines reapportionment and redistricting of congressional, state and local representation.
-  It is estimated that 24,000 people will be hired at a pay range of $11.25-$19.50 per hour.
-  Michigan would not have lost a congressional seat after the 2000 census if its snowbirds had been counted in the right place.
-  Because so many of Michigan's snowbirds were counted in the wrong place by the 2000 census, roughly $200 million of federal funds are spent in other states each year instead of in Michigan, which adds up to $2 billion over the course of a decade.

For more information on the 2010 Michigan census, please visit www.michigan.gov/census2010  

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