The U.S. business community recently warned the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives about the detrimental impact of a provision in federal funding legislation that would “crater response rates to all Census Bureau surveys and result in the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS) counting barely a third of the country,” while having “negative ripple effects across the U.S. economy.”
Section 621 of the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY 2025) Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, which passed the House Appropriations Committee on July 9, 2024, states: “None of the funds in this Act may be used to enforce involuntary compliance, or to inquire more than twice for voluntary compliance with any survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census.”
The CJS bill did not get a vote on the House floor before the House adjourned for August recess but may be considered in September.
The August 2 letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), led by the Insights Association, was joined by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), American Planning Association, Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Association of National Advertisers (ANA), Coin Laundry Association, ICSC, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Business Economics (NABE), National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), National Association of REALTORS, National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), and Nielsen.
The letter encouraged Congress to “promote opportunities to secure reliable data by increasing response rates, not decreasing them,” giving “American businesses the certainty to plan, attract, and execute future investments. With Section 621 limiting response rates, every other survey in the U.S. built on the population viagra online totals from the decennial count and estimates from the ACS will produce inaccurate data and insights. Businesses use census data to promote economic development, identify potential customers, understand audiences and create jobs. The scenario under Section 621 would be disastrous for American business decision-makers and hinder economic competition, development, and growth.”
The business groups concluded by warning Congress that, “Section 621 would wreak havoc on Census Bureau surveys, and by extension on most every other survey and research study conducted across the country. Therefore, the undersigned members of the U.S. business community urge the removal of this provision as you advance the FY25 CJS Appropriations bill.”
