Here's one economic stimulus package you may not have thought about!

In these tough economic times, we can’t overlook a 220-year-old program that now determines $300 billion in federal spending for critical community services that keep and create thousands of jobs.

Believe it or not, it’s the United States Census.

Next year, 2010, is a census year. AFSCME is encouraging members to take part in the census – and spread the word to our neighbors.

Getting an accurate count of the population is vital – economically and politically. The census determines how much federal money comes to our state. It also determines how many members of Congress we have.

Census data also guides local decision-makers on where to build new roads, hospitals, child-care and senior citizen centers, schools and more. Businesses use census data to locate supermarkets, new housing and other facilities.

But this year’s census questionnaire has only 10 questions and will take only about 10 minutes to complete. You’ll get a copy in the mail in March 2010. Census workers will visit households that do not return questionnaires. The gathering of census information should wrap up by April.

AFSCME will provide more information you can use on the census in coming months. For more information, log onto http://2010.census.gov/2010census/.