Updated: 10/19/2009 12:44 PM KSTP.com | Print |  Email

Minn. Looks to Snowbirds to Preserve House Seat

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - State officials are asking that the legions of state residents who go south for the winter make sure the Census Bureau counts them as Minnesotans.

State Demographer Tom Gillaspy is among those worried about this season's snowbird migration because the census forms will be mailed out next year.

The census count will decide how $300 billion in federal money gets divided up to states each year. It will also determine if Minnesota keeps all eight of his congressional seats.

He says keeping that seat may come down to as few as 2,000 to 3,000 people.

Officials say the best way snowbirds can be counted as Minnesotans is by not by filling out the census forms mailed to their winter homes. Instead, they should wait until they return to Minnesota to fill out the form mailed there.

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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)