Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday issued Executive Order 19-12 to establish the Arkansas Complete Count Committee to promote statewide participation in the 2020 Census. The Arkansas Complete Count Committee will consist of 30 volunteer members appointed by the Governor from state, municipal, and county government, as well as citizen and private sector representatives.
By this Executive Order, Governor Hutchinson is directing the Arkansas Complete Count Committee to establish a public-awareness campaign to promote citizen participation in the 2020 census; to provide recommendations on how best to reach hard-to-count communities within the state; and to work with municipal and county governments to form local complete count committees. In addition, should the need arise, the committee will provide recommendations for future funding to support this statewide effort.
Members of the Arkansas Complete Count Committee will include Representative Justin Gonzales of House District 19 and De Queen Mayor Jeff Brown.
The committee will meet monthly and shall submit a census progress report to the Governor no later than November 1, 2019; a census day report to the Governor no later than April 1, 2020; and a final census report no later than December 31, 2020.
The United States Census Bureau estimates the State of Arkansas has seen an increase of nearly 3.4 percent in population since the last decennial census, which occurred on April 1, 2010. Arkansas surpassed 3 million residents in 2017 and has since grown by 0.4 percent to roughly 3,013,825 residents.