STATEMENT: Senate Leader Atkins Reacts to U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Census Citizenship Question

SACRAMENTO – Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) issued the following statement on today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Department of Commerce v. State of New York:

“Today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court affirms what we have known from the start: this Administration’s story on why it needed to add a citizenship question and thus silence the voices of millions of those in marginalized communities by inserting fear was a sham. 

“While we have been handed a partial victory today, I’m disappointed that the Court believes that we don’t need to count all of our residents.

“In California, we will continue to work to secure adequate funding to ensure a complete count, and we are working with community advocates to make sure hard-to-reach communities are participating and hope that our courts see what we all see: this Administration will say and do anything to distort an accurate and complete count.”

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Toni G. Atkins is President pro Tempore of the California Senate. Having previously served as Speaker of the California Assembly, she began her tenure in the Senate in 2016. As Senator for District 39, she represents the cities of San Diego, Coronado, Del Mar and Solana Beach. Website of President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins: www.senate.ca.gov/Atkins