Don't Cut Short Census Operations Toward A Complete Count

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Valerie Street
valerie@txprogressiveaction.com

Austin, TX - Texas Progressive Action Network opposes the effort to shortchange census operations that would allow for a full and complete count of all persons, including communities of color, rural and tribal populations, those with low income, those experiencing homelessness and many more who have historically gone underrepresented in census counts.

For more, see: Census Cuts All Counting Efforts Short By A Month

At nearly every stage of census planning and implementation the current administration has tried to shape the outcome of the census by sowing fear and confusion.

A successful 2020 Census requires counting everyone and following-up with those who did not respond on their own. This is a daunting task under the best of circumstances but in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, it is crucial that Congress protect the 2020 Census by including an extension of the congressional reporting deadline in the next COVID-19 bill.

We encourage members in Congress to extend the statutory reporting deadlines for congressional apportionment data, and give the Census Bureau the time it has said it needs to complete the count.

The administration wants to rush 2020 Census operations, even though the most difficult work lies ahead.
If the Census Bureau doesn’t have the time it needs for a thorough enumeration of households that didn’t respond on their own, people experiencing homelessness, and people who live in transitory locations such as RV parks, the historic undercount of harder-to-reach populations — of which Texas has many — will only get worse.

We have already made a nearly $16 billion investment on the 2020 Census. Rushing key census operations and forcing the Census Bureau to produce an unfinished census of unacceptable quality will mean the American people have to live with those results for the next ten years.

The census is not partisan. When we undercount our communities, we are impacted at all levels. The loss on representation, federal funding, programs and services will all be felt for years to come.

The census is a portrait of America and our communities can’t be erased.

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Texas Progressive Action Network is a people powered nonprofit committed to advancing voter education and good public policy in Texas through advocacy and outreach.

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Texas Progressive Action Network
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