WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

S 2205

Provides for a New York power authority trustee from Niagara county

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Rob Ortt

The bill would change census data and apportionment rules to count only U.S. citizens for House seats and Electoral College votes starting with the 2030 census.

REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · S 2205

Summary — S. 2205 (Equal Representation Act) — June 29, 2025 (federal version)

Note on multiple uses of "S. 2205": The materials provided include several different bills from different jurisdictions that share the number S.2205 (a federal Senate bill on the decennial census, a Massachusetts Senate bill on open meetings, and other state-level texts). The summary below focuses on the federal S.2205 introduced June 29, 2025 — titled the "Equal Representation Act" — for which full bill text and sponsors were supplied.

Purpose / Intent

The Equal Representation Act would (1) add a citizenship question/indicator to the decennial census questionnaires beginning with 2030, (2) require the Census Bureau to publish state-level counts disaggregated by U.S. citizens vs. noncitizens, and (3) change the statutory basis for apportioning U.S. Representatives (and thereby Electoral College votes) so that only U.S. citizens — not all residents — are counted for apportionment.

Key provisions

  • Short title: "Equal Representation Act."
  • Section 2 — Citizenship question:
    • Amends 13 U.S.C. §141 to require that the 2030 decennial census and each decennial census thereafter include a checkbox or similar option for respondents to indicate whether each household member is a U.S. citizen.
    • Requires the Secretary of Commerce (Census Bureau) to publish, within 120 days after completion of each decennial census, the number of individuals per state disaggregated into citizens and noncitizens as tabulated under this section.
  • Section 3 — Apportionment change:
    • Amends the apportionment statute (2 U.S.C. §2a(a), originally from the 1929 apportionment act) by inserting language to exclude "individuals who are not citizens of the United States" from the population count used to determine apportionment of Representatives and the number of Electoral College votes.
    • Effective for apportionment carried out using the 2030 decennial census and subsequent decennial censuses.
  • Section 4 — Severability clause: preserves remainder of the law if any provision is held unconstitutional.

Who would be affected

  • States: Apportionment of House seats and electoral votes could shift among states depending on citizen-only counts versus total resident counts.
  • Noncitizen residents (lawful permanent residents, visa-holders, undocumented immigrants): Would be excluded from the population base used for reapportionment (though they would still appear in other Census products unless otherwise restricted).
  • Census Bureau operations: Would need to add and implement a citizenship indicator/checkbox, tabulate and publish disaggregated counts, and adjust internal apportionment calculations.
  • Political representation and funding formulas tied to apportionment could be indirectly affected by shifts in House seats.

Procedural status (federal version)

  • Introduced in the U.S. Senate on June 29, 2025; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  • Sponsors/co-sponsors include: Bill Hagerty (primary), plus multiple Senate cosponsors (R. Marshall, T. Tuberville, J. Hoeven, J.C. Justice, R. Scott, M. Lee, J. Lankford, T. Budd, R. Johnson, S. Daines, K. Britt, M. Crapo, E.S. Schmitt, K. Cramer, C. Lummis, A. Moody, T. Sheehy, P. Ricketts, J.E. Risch). (Materials also list Robert Ortt as a primary sponsor in a separate state context.)
  • Related/companion measures listed in the materials: HR 151 (companion), multiple prior-session or companion state bills.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Reapportionment shifts: States with higher shares of noncitizen residents (e.g., some large states) could lose seats; states with higher shares of citizens could gain.
  • Legal and administrative challenges: Changing apportionment base raises constitutional questions (Apportionment Clause, census duties) and would likely prompt litigation; implementation would require procedural changes at the Census Bureau.
  • Data accuracy & response effects: Adding a citizenship checkbox could affect response rates and data quality; historically, citizenship questions have been controversial and linked to concerns about undercounting hard-to-reach populations.
  • Timing: The changes are expressly targeted to apply starting with the 2030 decennial census.

If you want, I can:
- Produce a side-by-side comparison of how apportionment and electoral vote allocation would differ using total resident population vs. citizen-only population, or
- Summarize the other S.2205 texts (Massachusetts open-meeting update, state-level bills) that appeared in your materials.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.