Cooperative Living March/April 2020 - 4

ViewPoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 74, No. 4
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Senior Editor
STEVEN JOHNSON
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
JOHN GROTT
Production Coordinator
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Design & E-Media Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
NINA JACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
To change your subscription, please
contact your electric cooperative.
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Email: editor@vmdaec.com
Web: co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE
Association of Electric Cooperatives
FLETCHER B. JONES
Chairman
PATRICIA S. DOREY
Vice Chair
RUSSELL G. BROWN
Secretary/Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson,
Jr., A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC;
George N. Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E.
Arnold, Micheal E. Malandro, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett,
Steven A. Harmon, Community; James E. Huffman, Jeff
M. Ahearn, Craig-Botetourt; Patricia S. Dorey, J. William
Andrew, Delaware; Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee Jr.,
Mecklenburg; Russell G. Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck;
Wade C. House, Stan C. Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale
McNiel, Randell Myers, Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick,
Casey J. Logan, Prince George; Linda R. Gray, Kent D. Farmer,
Rappahannock; Larry C. Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings,
Shenandoah Valley; Frank W. Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards,
Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
Amanda Cunningham (804) 297-3429
National Advertising Representative: AMP,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of AMP network of
publications, reaching more than
9 million homes and businesses.
PRESSRUN . . . . . . . . . 578,483
COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
published 10 times a year, monthly except for
combined March/April and November/ December
issues, by the Va., Md. & Del. Association of Electric
Cooperatives. POSTMASTER, address
changes should be sent to: Cooperative Living,
4201 Dominion Boulevard, Suite 101, Glen Allen,
VA 23060, (804) 346-3344. Periodicals Postage
paid at Glen Allen, VA, and additional mailing offices.
Subscription: $4.99 per year for members of
subscribing co-ops; $10 per year for all others.
ADVERTISING published is accepted on the
premise that the merchandise and services offered
are accurately described and willingly sold to
customers at the advertised price. Neither this
magazine nor the electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland, and Delaware endorses any products
or services advertised herein. If any readers
encounter non-compliance with these standards,
they are asked to inform the Editor.
O
ur Constitution is a thing of beauty:
carefully thought-out, artfully written,
aspirational yet practical. It's as powerful
and relevant today as when the Founding
Fathers signed it in 1787, and when on March 9,
1789, it became the enduring design for a federal
government operating within a union of states.
And it survives today, 231 years later, healthy
and strong, not as an ancient artifact of an
agrarian age, but as a dynamic document in
an age of complex machines.
The Founders wisely chose population -
not wealth or land - as the basis for
determining political power. In its very
first article, the Constitution states that
" Representatives and direct Taxes shall
be apportioned among the several States
which may be included within this Union,
according to their respective Numbers ... . "
So, to determine those " respective Numbers, "
a census has been taken every 10 years since
1790. The intent of every census has been to
count the entire population at the location
where each person lives.
The 2020 census will ask questions of people
in homes and group-living situations, including
how many people live or stay in each home.
The stated goal of the U.S. Census Bureau is
" to count everyone once, only once, and in the
right place. "
Population totals - and breakdowns of those
totals - determine the allocation of federal
funds, grants and support to states, counties
and communities. The financial impact can be
huge on communities that are undercounted,
especially on rural areas that may barely be
maintaining, or even be losing, population.
A community benefits most when the census
counts everyone in that community. When you
respond to the census, you help your community
receive its fair share of more than $675 billion
per year in federal funds that are spent on
schools, hospitals, roads, public works and
other vital programs.
The financial impact of the census affects
2
businesses as well. Businesses use census data
to decide where to build factories, offices and
stores, and this of course creates jobs. Local
governments use the census for public safety
and emergency preparedness.
As noted, the Constitution mandates a
census every 10 years to accurately apportion
the 435 members of the House of
Representatives among the now-50 United
States. This apportionment is the original legal
purpose of the decennial census, as intended by
the Founders, and ensures that your voice is
heard, and your interests are fully and fairly
represented in our nation's capital. The
apportionment results will be the first data
published from the 2020 census and will
determine the number of seats each state
will have in the House of Representatives
for the next 10 years.
Completing the census is mandatory to
ensure that every community and every state
are properly represented. It's against the law
for the Census Bureau to publicly release your
responses in any way that could identify you or
your household, and also by law, your responses
cannot be used against you. They can only be
used to produce statistics.
Most households will receive census
information in mid-March. There'll be several
ways to take part in the 2020 census: by phone,
mail, or for the first time, online.
In soaring yet succinct prose, its Preamble
outlines the Constitution's ambitious aims:
" to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity ... . "
With its opening words, the Preamble also
foreshadows why the Constitution mandates
a census, as it declares, " We the People of the
United States ... . "
" We the People " means ALL the people.
All of us.
And all of us starts with you. 
Find the latest pics and posts at facebook.com/cooperativeliving.
co-opliving.com
We the People ...
All of Us
It's never been more important for every Virginian and Marylander
to take part in the national census that's done every 10 years. By
participating, you'll ensure that your community receives its fair
share of funding for vital services like schools, hospitals and roads.
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Cooperative Living March/April 2020

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