Posted: Dec 21, 2010 4:48 PM
Updated: Dec 21, 2010 4:56 PM
TUCSON - The U.S. Census numbers were released Tuesday and we've cracked the 300 million mark for the first time ever.
Still, it's one of the lowest increases since the Great Depression.
Arizona was one of the few states to post a big increase, gaining more than a million people, over the past decade. Maricopa and Pinal counties saw the biggest growth.
The exact number as of April 1, 2010 was 308,745,538; a big chunk of that came from Arizona.
The increase was enough to put another Arizona representative in Washington and that's good no matter what your political views.
Jeff Rogers is the Pima County Democratic Party Chairman. He said, "Every seat counts and every seat is important and I think we will be looked at a little more closely by the national politicians and it will gain us a little extra clout."
It also means more federal money will be funneled into the desert.
Rogers said, "More is better. We'll get a greater share of our own federal tax payer dollars that go to Washington. It should come back here."
Andy Gunning is with the Pima Association of Governments. He added, "I'm sure on the transportation side we'll see some additional revenue coming in. That's the optimistic hope and even overall with other services as well outside of transportation I'm sure they'll see some additional revenue coming in."
How much money is yet to be determined and so is the location of Arizona's soon to be new congressional district.
The district lines will be drawn by an independent re-districting commission early next year. Depending on where the line falls, experts said it could affect the northern parts of Southern Arizona; districts held by Gabrielle Giffords and Raul Grijalva.
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