Arizona could gain two seats in House

Wednesday, 29 December 1999

http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/080-4464.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ten seats in the House would shift among states if reapportionment were conducted today, according to a private firm's analysis of the Census Bureau's latest population estimates.
Arizona and Texas would gain two seats each, while both New York and Pennsylvania would lose two.
Overall, changes would affect 16 states, said Kim Brace, who performed the calculations for the Election Data Service.
The 435 seats in the House will be reapportioned among the states after completion of Census 2000. A dispute over how to conduct the national head count ended in January with a Supreme Court ruling that statistical estimation cannot be used for the basic set of numbers used to redistribute seats.
The Census Bureau reported yesterday that the United States gained 2.5 million people this year, bringing the nation's estimated population as of July 1, 1999, to 272.7 million. The South and the West continued to lead the nation in population growth, with Texas passing the 20 million mark and Florida topping 15 million.
Brace used these estimates, the last to be released before the 2000 Census, and the formula the government uses to calculate realignment of House seats.
The House currently is limited to 435 seats, and the law requires that they be distributed as fairly as possible among the states, based on population. Thus, when a state gains a seat, another has to lose one.
Using the 1999 estimates, Brace calculated that California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Montana and Nevada would gain one seat each. Losing one would be Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
Arizona also gained one seat in the post-1990 reapportionment.


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