There have been claims that salesmen and immigration officials have portrayed themselves as census-takers. Residents from Washington to North Carolina have complained to lawmakers about the long form, which is sent to 1 in 6 households and asks questions such as whether respondents have trouble bathing or getting around the house. A congressional candidate in Houston has even filed a lawsuit against the bureau, claiming that the form is a violation of privacy. Its main task is to find out how many US House seats each state is entitled to - and where political boundaries are to be drawn. But the findings also determine all federal funding.
Lower numbers means less money for local governments.
Overall, the last census count was shy by about 1.6 percent - discovered later by corrective sampling. He estimates that Los Angeles was undercounted by 138,000 in 1990. Some 52,000 of those were children, he says, and that cost the city as many as 2,000 teachers and funding for 77 schools. The big push here is to get minorities to overcome their fears of giving information to the government. The Peach State also lost big money as a result of the 1990 census.