Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for Capitol Confidential a coalition of state lawmakers, anti-poverty advocates and government watchdogs on January 23, called for the formation of a task force to make sure that New York’s population is fully recorded in the 2020 census. State Assembly member Marcos Crespo, Democrat of the Bronx, said New York was undercounted in 2000 and 2010, which cost the state two congressional seats and billions of dollars in potential federal aid. Crespo said the federal government has cut more than $5 billion from the census budget and has proposed asking questions that would create greater fear in the immigrant community. Crespo said that policy could result in “forcing more families into the shadows.” The coalition is calling for the state Senate to pass legislation already approved in the Assembly that would form and fund a task force to prepare New York for the 2020 census. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.