California on track to lose at least one congressional seat after 2020 Census
WASHINGTON _ California's population is growing more slowly than expected, making it increasingly likely it will lose at least one congressional seat in 2020 _ and maybe more.
"Right now, the current numbers that are coming in look very much like California is on track to lose a seat," Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Research Fellow Eric McGhee told The Sacramento Bee.
McGhee's assessment came after the state released its latest demographic report on May 1. The report, produced by the California Department of Finance, estimates that California added 186,807 residents in 2018, a growth rate of 0.47 percent. That is the slowest in the state's history, the department noted, which it attributed to "a significant decline in births," as well as lower student enrollment and a rise in deaths as California's "Baby Boomers" continue to age.
Census Bureau data released in December also documented a slowdown.
That raises the stakes for the 2020 Census even higher. The Census Bureau will "reapportion" the country's 435 U.S. House seats in 2021 based off the population numbers it tallies next year. It would then be up to the state's independent redistricting commission to draw the new congressional districts lines for the apportioned seats.
_ The Sacramento Bee
