California is spending over $100 million preparing for the 2020 Census to maintain its top spot to maximize the federal population spending jackpot.

The key for California to keep growing its top spot in state and local government spending that hit $587.9 billion this year is maximizing its number of legal and illegal residents who currently justify $107.5 billion in direct federal transfers and about $376 billion of indirect transfers to pay for federal salaries, income support, student financial aid, U.C. grants, corporate subsidies, and a slew of other items.

California has allocated $100.3 million for "outreach" this year to maximize the number of state residents to be counted in the 2020 U.S. Census.  Only 10 other states have allocated any cash for "outreach."  California's funding is over 27 times the $2.3 million by number-two Georgia and 66 times the $1.5 million funded by number-three Illinois.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra complained to NPR that the reason California needs to invest in the Census because: "We always, as taxpayers in the state of California, pay more in taxes than we get back to our state.  And so we're going to fight where we need to make sure that we get the resources that we provided to the federal Treasury."

Becerra is technically correct that California gets back only about $0.99 for every dollar of federal taxes paid by state residents, according to the non-partisan Legislative Analysts' Office.  But the real reason California is spending so much more is the Commerce Department's 2020 Decennial Census Form, will include questions for U.S. citizenship.

The amount of federal cash California receives is inflated by a nation-high 2.35 million illegal aliens and about 1.6 million children born to illegal aliens over the last 18 years.  Subtracting that 3.95 million residents from the 39.6 million total California residents could eliminate up to 10 percent of federal spending, or up to $48.2 billion.

With no citizenship question on the 2000 Census under the Clinton administration, California became the first state to invest in "outreach" when it allocated $28 million for its "Complete Count Committee."  For the 2010 Census under Obama, California allocated $2.3 million for the committee, and $10 million of private funding was raised.

But with the 2020 Census asking the citizenship question, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order appointing a 25-member "Complete Count Committee" led by California Senate president pro tempore, Toni G. Atkins; Assembly speaker Anthony Rendon; and 23 progressives members.  Brown's press release emphasized: "It is vitally important for California to do everything it can to ensure that every Californian is counted in the upcoming census."

Gov. Brown and his Democrat allies say they are worried about an undercount of California residents.  But the real concern is that many illegal aliens will not fill out a 2020 Census form and admit they are an illegal alien, because they are currently collecting benefits restricted only to citizens.

In addition to Democrats worrying about a lower count costing the state tens of billions of dollars in federal funding, they are also fear that with the census determining the number the allocation of U.S. congressional representatives.  A low count could cost California up to three of its current 53 U.S. House of Representatives seats. 

The State of California sued the Commerce Department in March in an effort to keep the citizenship question off the 2020 Census.  Secretary of state Alex Padilla, an advocate of California being a sanctuary state told reporters: "The citizenship question is the latest attempt by President Trump to stoke the fires of anti-immigrant hostility."