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Congress·In Committee·26 days ago

House Bill Would Count Prisoners at Home Addresses, Not Prison Locations, Starting in 2030

Also known as: End Prison Gerrymandering Act

Legislative Progress

✓ Filed
Review
House
Senate
President

Impact Analysis

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Key Points

  • A new bill introduced by Ms. Ross would change how the U.S. Census Bureau counts people living in prisons and jails. Instead of counting them at the prison's location, the government would count them at their last home address before they were incarcerated.
  • This change would apply to everyone held in federal, state, county, or local correctional facilities, as well as youth detention centers. The new rules would officially begin with the 2030 Census.
  • Currently, many rural areas with large prisons gain extra political power because their population numbers look higher, even though incarcerated people usually cannot vote there. This policy aims to return that political representation to the prisoners' home communities.
  • The bill requires states to use these updated home-address numbers when drawing new maps for Congressional districts. This ensures that the number of representatives a community gets is based on where people actually live and where their families are located.
  • By shifting where people are counted, this could also affect how much government funding different cities and towns receive, as many federal programs distribute money based on Census population data.
Civil RightsCriminal Justice

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Feb 4, 2026House

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Feb 4, 2026

Introduced in House

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

End Prison Gerrymandering Act

Bill NumberHR 7375
Congress119th Congress
ChamberHouse of Representatives
Latest ActionReferred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(11)
D: 11

Analysis generated by AI. While we strive for accuracy, this should not be considered legal or professional advice. Always verify information with official government sources.