Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (D-Middlesex) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to send a case on whether the 2020 census should contain a citizenship question back to a lower court:
“Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of American values and the Founding Fathers’ intent of the census. Not including the citizenship question on the census sends a message to the Trump administration, loud and clear, that every person in America matters and needs to be counted. While today’s decision is clearly a win, we must all still focus on confronting the other challenges of the 2020 census including a decreased census budget and an online platform.
“A complete and accurate count is tremendously important and I have worked hard with my colleagues in the Legislature and advocacy organizations to ensure that New Jersey has the funding necessary to achieve a complete count. This is why the Democratic Legislature’s budget that we sent to the Governor includes an additional $7 million in funding for the Complete Count Commission that will help ensure the 2020 census is fair and accurate.
“I know we will all work hard to ensure every resident in New Jersey is counted.”