Census

I skimmed the first part of a story in the paper this morning noting that there were partisan differences in how the census should be performed in towns with prisons: count the prisoners with the town where they happen to be living, or with the town they were taken from to go to prison? Or if they have no fixed address, then what?

I get it that the prison towns want the population count, since state funding often flows on the basis of population. And since crime is higher in the large urban areas, that means the political clout of the already powerful cities becomes even greater. On the other hand, the place that is likely to need the additional funding is the town the prisoner came from--where there may be dependents without support, for example. The prisoners don't contribute much wear and tear on the roads, or use the schools much. And the prisoner's home town could probably use a little help after the damage the criminal did.

Hmm. If there's no home or other fixed address, then sure, stick the count in the prison town. Otherwise, put the count in their home town. It's probably too complicated to keep 2 census counts--one of nominal residents and one of voters.

I wonder which party that aligns me with? I should go read the rest of the story to find out. Democrat.