LANSING – As the House committee overseeing the decennial reapportionment process began its deliberations, it was told the story of Michigan’s population changes during the preceding decade was more complex and nuanced than it might appear.

While the state lost population during the preceding decade, the only state in the union to do so, it actually did not lose population as fast as did Rhode Island during the latter part of the decade, though that state still saw a population gain, Michigan’s demographer Ken Darga told the House Redistricting and Elections Committee.

The committee held its first meeting on redistricting, though there will be a series of meetings and hearings on the required redistricting. Besides apportioning the map for Michigan’s 148 legislators, the committee will have to draw a proposal to remap the state for the 14 members of the U.S. House of Representatives that will represent it beginning with the 2012 election.

There will be appeals to the final determination of Michigan’s population, Darga said, but whatever errors are corrected from that appeal will not affect the state’s congressional delegation.

He also said it was unclear how exactly political power in the state would shift, given the changes in the state’s population.

Darga also said the dynamics of the state’s population changes during the decade have been simplified in news accounts. Michigan’s population actually grew slowly during the first half of the decade, to more than 10 million people, then fell slightly more rapidly during the latter half of the decade. In total, the state lost 55,000 during the decade.

During the first half of the decade, its growth was the 10th slowest. During the second half, it’s population loss was the second fastest, he said.

Nearly half of the state’s 83 counties lost population during the decade, he said, and just five had had growth of greater than 10 percent.

The region that had the best overall growth was the west side of the state near Grand Rapids, he said.

Despite the state’s bad economic and demographic news of the last decade, the state is starting to see a turnaround, Darga said. The state had the largest decline in unemployment during 2010, he said, and its growth in per capita income was one of the fastest nationally.

Overall, Darga said, he was more optimistic about the state’s upcoming population estimates than he has been for some time.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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