Equal Representation Act

S. 2205, the Equal Representation Act, would make significant changes to how the U.S. Census operates and how congressional seats are allocated. The bill would require the decennial census (conducted every 10 years) to include a citizenship question asking whether household members are U.S. citizens. Within 120 days of completing the census, the Secretary of Commerce would be required to publicly report the number of citizens and non-citizens in each state. Most significantly, the bill would change how congressional representation is apportioned starting with the 2030 census. Rather than basing representation on total population as currently done, representation would be based solely on the number of U.S. citizens in each state. This could potentially reduce congressional representation for states with larger non-citizen populations.

If enacted, the bill could affect federal funding allocation and political representation. The bill is currently in committee and has not yet been voted on by the full Senate. Some civil rights organizations have expressed concerns that adding a citizenship question could discourage census participation among immigrant households, potentially leading to inaccurate population counts that would affect federal funding for schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and other services for all communities.