Every decade, the U.S. government counts the number of people in the country. That census count helps determine the amount of money each state receives from the federal government.

It also determines how many people each state sends to the House of Representatives.

An inaccurate count means that Arizona could miss out on hundreds of millions of dollars over the decade for public entities like our schools, roads and health care resources. This can be particularly damaging to a state with rapidly growing population and needs.

Several government-sponsored campaigns have been created to encourage participation in the census. This includes Gov. Doug Ducey's Arizona Complete Count Committee.

In this episode of The Gaggle: An Arizona politics podcast, hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen talk to Alec Thomson, the executive director of the Arizona Complete Count Committee, about the importance of the census and how you can participate in a safe way.

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Minisode 486: On aging and the place in-between