OFFICIAL OPINION No. 7

OFFICIAL OPINION No. 7 Reapportionment-Certification of census-Time available to municipalities to complete reapportionment. 1. Article IX, Section 11 of Pennsylvania Constitution requires that reappor- tionment take place " ... within the year following that in which the Federal decennial census is officially reported as required by Federal Jaw." 2. The critical year is the one in which the Secretary of Commerce reports the census count to the President and not the year in which the certified figures are made available. OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 17 3. The Secretary of Commerce reported the tabulation of total population by States to the President on November 30, 1970. 4. Under Article IX, Section 11, municipalities have the full year of 1971 in which to complete reapportionment. Honorable Donald 0. Oesterling 173 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 Dear Senator Oesterling: Harrisburg, Pa., March 4, 1971 This is in response to your letter of February 11th concerning our interpretation of Article IX, Section 11, of the Pennsylvania Constitu- tion relative to certifying census figures. We are of the opinion that the critical year is the year in which the Secretary of Commerce reports the census count to the President and not the year in which the certified figures are made available. Article IX, Section 11, provides that reapportionment shall take place "within the year following that in which the Federal decennial census is officially reported as required by Federal law." On November 30, 1970, the Secretary of Commerce "reported" to the President "the Tabulation of total population by States as required for the apportionment of Representatives." In doing so, he acted pur- suant to the mandate contained in the Act of August 31, 1954, c. 1158, Section 1, 68 Stat. 1019, as amended, 13 U. S. C. A. § 141 (b) (Supp. 1970). There is no requirement in the Federal census law as to any other form of reporting of the census figures. There is a pro- vision in the Federal law to the effect that the Secretary of Commerce may furnish census information to State and local officials. However, this provision is not mandatory, and it seems clear that our Constitu- tional provision refers to the requirement that the Secretary of Com- merce report the census count to the President. Thus, it is our opinion that 1970 is the year "in which the Federal decennial census was officially reported as required by Federal law," Pa. Const., Art. IX, Section 11. This being the case, it becomes academic whether the language "Within the year following that" is interpreted as "within the year following the date on which the census is officially 18 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL reported" or "within the year following the year in which the census is reported." In the former case, the "cut-off" date would be November 30, 1971; in the latter, December 31, 1971. Nevertheless, we believe that, as a matter of construction, the latter interpretation is correct. Therefore, under Article IX, Section 11, mu- nicipalities would have the full year of 1971 (January 1, 1971, through December 31, 1971) in which to complete reapportionment. Sincerely, J. SHANE CREAMER, Attorney General.