The Oklahoma Department of Commerce is the lead agency for the Census, and Executive Director Brent Kisling said the state has some of the most robust efforts in the country underway to guarantee a thorough count.
Kisling said part of that work includes making sure postcards the Census will mail go to the right household.
"We spent all summer and this fall sending staff out verifying addresses, and we submitted over 350,000 additional addresses to the U.S. Census Bureau from Oklahoma. They accepted 340,000 of those addresses," Kisling said.
While the commerce department is leading the state's work ahead of the Census, they aren’t asking lawmakers for any extra funding for it.
"We did not have a budget request for the Census, mainly because Census day is April 1, and if we go through the whole process, it’s all going to be gone. The process will be over by the time the funds would be there," Kisling said.
Oklahomans can expect to see a full-scale ad campaign start up soon.
"Our slogan for the Census for this year is, 'OK Let’s Count,' and we have a beautiful logo, we have a lot of videos that we’ll be releasing on social media, there will be billboards, there will be static ads, some television PSAs," Kisling said.
Results of the Census help determine things like representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and how much federal funding states get for certain programs.
