The upcoming 2010 census will have political and economic implications for Louisiana — including the possible loss of a U.S. congressional seat and temporary job creation.  The census, taken every 10 years, will be counted for the first time since hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Political observers will be able to see census data documenting Louisiana’s altered demographics — a change political observers and lawmakers expect to result in the loss of one of Louisiana’s seven U.S. congressional seats. “It’s hard for me to see how Louisiana doesn’t lose a [U.S.] congressional seat,” said Kirby Goidel, director of public policy research for the Manship School of Mass Communications. Glenn Koepp, Louisiana secretary of the Senate, said losing a U.S. congressional seat “has been on the button since the last census” in 2000.  Goidel, cited stagnation in Louisiana’s population growth as a reason for losing the seat. By 2008, Louisiana had lost more than 58,000 residents since the 2000 census — a loss of 1.3 percent, placing Louisiana last for population growth, according to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. Only one other state, North Dakota has an estimated loss of population. The U.S. Constitution mandates the 10-year census be used to re-apportion U.S. congressional seats to reflect changes in state-by-state populations and that each state redraw its own districts based on the results found by the census. “Redistricting is a tricky thing for political parties because it doesn’t always work out the way they plan,” said Wayne Parent, political science professor. Goidel said redistricting can get deeply involved in political interests, citing political parties’ fears of gerrymandering — purposefully drawing districts to give an unfair advantage to one party. But Koepp said there are multiple laws and regulations the government must to adhere to when redrawing districts. First, Koepp said, “you have to meet the Constitutional requirement of one person, one vote.”  Guidelines provided by the   Supreme Court of the United States and the Voting Rights Act also influence how the Legislature begins to redraw districts.  Koepp said two basic requirements are ensuring each district has roughly the same number of people and preventing retrogression — ending up with less minority districts than before the redrawing began.  But the political maneuvering doesn’t end there.Nationally, the politics surrounding the 2010 census were thrown back into the spotlight when Sen. Judd Greg, R-N.H.,  withdrew his nomination by President Barack Obama as Commerce Secretary, citing, among other reasons, disagreement over the census. Karen Paterson, state demographer with the Louisiana State Census Data Center, said the disagreement isn’t over the census itself, but “whether or not you adjust for the undercount afterward.” Though the census is “a count of everyone living in the United States,” according to the U.S. Census Web site, Paterson said counting everyone isn’t possible. Dense urban areas are particularly difficult to capture the true population numbers for, Paterson said, especially among the homeless. The bureau estimates the number of those who may have been missed in the count, which comprises the undercount. The disagreement, Goidel said, is whether it’s better to use the raw count and risk not including some or use the estimates and risk counting people who may not really be there. The estimates weren’t used for the census in 2000.  The difference affects urban areas in Louisiana like New Orleans — a city where the population loss from Hurricane Katrina is expected to lose the city representation in the state Legislature.   In January, the U.S. Census Bureau accepted a challenge of its population estimate by Orleans Parish, resulting in an increase of more than 48,000 to the estimated population for the parish — a total of 288,113. The revised total, though, is still thousands smaller than the 2000 census count for Orleans of 484,674.Until the 2010 census comes out, Koepp said there’s “no way to know” how redistricting is going to “come out.”  AFFECTING THE ECONOMYPaterson said the Census Bureau is now hiring workers. She said the local census offices in Lafayette and Baton Rouge have noticed interest in census jobs. The work,          Paterson said, is fitted well for college students, who have been hired in the past. “Thousands of census takers are needed to update address lists and conduct interviews with community residents,” according to the U.S. Census Web site. Paterson said the 2010 census is particularly important this time because of the damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Census data is used by the Federal government “to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year,” according to the Census Bureau.”Knowing what the characteristics of the population are will help planning,” Paterson said.The data is also used by businesses for planning marketing strategies, Paterson said. “Businesses use it as much as government,” she said.  ——Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]