BLACKOUT: Communities without Vital Data

BLACKOUT: Communities without Vital Data

A webinar from MACS 2030 and The Census Project

Agenda and Speaker Bios

• Agenda
• Speaker Bios

Presentation

• Slide Deck
• YouTube Link to Recording
• Why Maintaining the Data is Essential
• Q&A

Presentation Highlights

• ACS: The Essential National Resource for Data
• ACS Data Quality Crisis: Is the Survey Viable
• Canadian Census: Mandatory vs Voluntary
• Childcare Data: The ACS Tool for Policy Change
• Government Data Reliability: A Crisis
• Mandatory Surveys – The Only Way for Rural Data

Fact Sheet

• Section 605: House FY26 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill (November 2025)

Simulated Voluntary ACS Red Maps

• By State

Canada’s Experience

Cancellation of 1986 Census

• Standing on the shoulders of giants: History of Statistics Canada: 1970 to 2008 (Statistics Canada)

Changing Mandatory 2011 Census Long Form to Voluntary National Household Survey

• 2011 National Household Survey: Data Quality and Confidentiality Standards and Guidelines (Statistics Canada)
• Geographic Areas Not Released (Statistics Canada)
• The Tragedy of Canada’s Census (Bloomberg, February 26, 2015)

Census Bureau Voluntary ACS Research

• Meeting 21st Century Demographic Data Needs–Implementing the American Community Survey – Testing the Use of Voluntary Methods (Census Bureau, December 2003)
• ACS Mandatory vs. Voluntary Methods (Census Bureau, 2012)
• A Future Without Key Social and Economic Statistics for the Country (Census Bureau Blog by Robert Groves, May 11, 2012)
• Who Commuted on Baltimore’s Key Bridge: (Census Bureau Article from CRE/ACS Data, May 8, 2024)
• Hurricane Helene’s Impact on the Socially Vulnerable in North Carolina (Census Bureau Article from CRE/ACS Data, October 11, 2024)
• Understanding Disasters Through Federal Data (Working Paper on Hurricane Helene with CRE/ACS Data, September 22, 2025)

Limit of Two Contacts Per Respondent – Section 605

• STANDARD DEVIATIONS: Section 605: A Threat to America’s Data (Census Quality Reinforcement Task Force/Census Project Blog, September 14, 2025)
• Letter to Congressional Committees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (American Statistical Association, October 21, 2025)

Advocacy

• U.S. Business Community Letter on FY26 CJS Sec. 605 (September 8, 2025)
• American Statistical Association Letter on Section 605 (October 21, 2025)
• Census Project Letter to House and Senate CJS on FY 2026 and Section 605 (October 30, 2025)