Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02) introduced H.R. 7399, legislation that would terminate the American Community Survey (ACS), the continuous annual survey that replaced the old decennial census long form in 2005.
H.R. 7399 would prohibit the Commerce Secretary or the Census Bureau from carrying out the ACS and require that, �no Federal funds may be obligated or expended to carry out such Survey (or any similar survey).�
Cosponsored by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE-03) and Jeff Duncan (R-SC-03), the bill awaits action in the House Oversight & Accountability Committee.
There have been repeated attempts in Congress to make the mandatory-response survey a voluntary one, which would neuter its usefulness. Legislation to eliminate the ACS entirely is a rare thing, but the House of Representatives did vote to kill the ACS in 2012 as part of appropriations legislation, a provision which never became law. Rep. Duncan, a cosponsor of this bill, sponsored his own legislation in 2013 that also would have eliminated the ACS (along with most any census survey beyond the decennial headcount).
The ACS is the premier source for information about America�s changing population, households, and workforce�and a crucial component of the American democracy. It is the current fulfillment of James Madison�s vision that the 1790 Census should add questions beyond �bare enumeration� so that Congress might �adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community.� ACS data are pervasively used by federal, state, and local decisionmakers to power our economy and plan our communities. For more details, see The Census Project�s 2023 ACS report, �America�s Essential Economic and Social Data at Risk.�
Stakeholders have pretty resoundingly opposed prior attempts to undermine or eliminate the ACS. The Insights Association is already out with a 1-page position paper on H.R. 7399.
