At 9:28 am (Arizona time), it was officially announced: Arizona WILL have a 9th seat in the House of Representatives in 2013. Just announced moments ago by the U.S. Census Bureau, Arizona's population has increased fast enough to warrant an additional Congressional district in the decennial (re)apportionment. (Arizona gained TWO seats in the last (re)apportionment process in 2000; this is the 6th apportionment in a row that Arizona has gained seats.)
The census also helps decide how and where approximately $400B/yr in government funds is spent.
The population of the our nation is now at 308.7 million persons; in 2000, it was at approximately 281.4 million. That is an increase of 9.7%. (The announcement came practically with a virtual drum roll.)
Interesting (re)apportionment fact: It is not a straight population per capita calculation to apportion the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. Residents of D.C., Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Samoa, Guam and Northern Marianas are not counted in the apportionment. Then, each of the 50 states gets one seat. THEN, the remaining 385 are apportioned per capita.
Another fact: Between 1990 and 2000, the population of the U.S. increased by 13.2% (to 281.4 million).
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