With less than a week to go before the launch of SEIU's ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! campaign for a full count of U.S. Latinos in the 2010 Census, we thought you might want to know why we think this is such a big deal.

The U.S. Census, held every 10 years, is the single most powerful indicator of who we are as a nation. It not only dictates the story we tell about our demographic makeup-but it also determines the allocation of our federal purse string and the seats of our political power.

Among other things, the U.S. Census:

• Determines Congressional reapportionment and political representation in State Legislatures and hundreds of legislative bodies at the local level;
• Decides the allocation of more than $400 billion in Federal funds to communities annually-including funds for Medicaid, voter protection, SCHIP, childcare, early child education, school lunch, ESL, adult education, and other vital services for our community; and
• Serves as the fundamental source of information on our nation's demographic makeup-guiding private and public research projects that influence a broad range of social/policy decisions. For example-the Census results are used to enforce civil rights laws and document discrimination based on race, ethnicity and gender.

Read more about the U.S. Census here.