Gulf Coast to follow Utah's lead on census

WASHINGTON — A coalition of community and civil rights leaders

from the Gulf Coast region is asking Congress to keep close tabs on how

the Census Bureau counts Americans displaced almost four years ago by

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the latest regional concern about next

year's census that has been laid before lawmakers.Leaders of

Northeastern and Midwestern states regularly complain that the census

undercounts their populations because of "snowbirds" from their states

who spend part of the year in the warmer South.Utah officials argue

that the census should count the estimated 13,000 state residents who

are temporarily living in other states or overseas as Mormon missionaries.The

arguments are parochial, but the stakes are huge: Population figures

compiled during the census will help determine the distribution of at

least $300 billion in federal funding to state and local governments

for roads, schools, hospitals and other programs.The census

responds with the same message: It will follow the same basic principle

that it has since the first head count in 1790, recording people where

they are living as of Census Day, which in 2010 will be April 1."To

do an accurate census, you have to apply the same methodologies across

the population, or they may be skewed," said Census Bureau spokesman

Stephen Buckner.Roughly 311,800 people now live in New Orleans,

down from the 484,674 who lived there before the storms. City officials

are so concerned about a potential undercount that starting next week a

staffer will be devoted full time to local census issues, according to