Appropriations Update
As the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations cycle ramped up, The Census Project led more than 120 local, state and national companies and organizations in sending a letter to leaders of the House and Senate CJS Appropriations Subcommittees urging them “to provide the U.S. Census Bureau with $2 billion in FY 2025 and to oppose any proposals that would use the agency as an offset to fund other programs in the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill.”
The stakeholders’ concerns were echoed in a Dear Colleague led by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28). The bipartisan group of 50 U.S. Representatives asked the House CJS Appropriations Subcommittee leadership “to make the Census Bureau a high priority in the FY 2025 CJS bill. Further, during FY 2025 deliberations, we encourage the subcommittee to reject any proposals that would use the Census Bureau as a funding offset for other priorities in the CJS bill.”
With the President’s budget request in hand, the Appropriations Committees intend to draw up and advance their respective funding measures in the coming months.
- Hearings involving the Secretary of Commerce, who oversees the Census Bureau, have yet to be scheduled.
- The member request deadline for the House Appropriations Committee, for community projects and program funding, and legislative and report language, is May 3. The member request deadline for the Senate CJS Subcommittee is May 9.
- For stakeholders interested in submitting written testimony for FY 2025, the House CJS deadline is May 10 (instructions are here) and the Senate CJS deadlines is May 24 (instructions are here).
Federal News Network interviews The Census Project about Funding Needs
The decennial funding cycle, which requires a ramp up over the course of ten years, is “a funding cycle that of course, Congress struggles with, because it’s a very regular one by logic standards, but hard one based on how Congress funds things,” according to The Census Project in a recent radio interview on the Federal News Network. Unfortunately, just like in some prior decades, continuing resolutions and sequestration or similar across-the-board budget changes may not impact the average federal agency too badly, but The Census Project pointed out that there were tangible challenges to the 2020 Census from such moves, including the cancellation of almost all field testing in the run-up to the count. While we’re still five years out from the decennial headcount itself, The Census Project noted, “A lot of the major decision making is going on in FY25,” making it critical to increase funding for the Census Bureau now.
Read more and listen to the interview on FNN.
Policy Update
Equal Representation Act sent to U.S. House floor
The Equal Representation Act (H.R. 7109) was marked up in the House Oversight and Reform Committee on April 10. Before passage by a vote of 22-20, the bill was amended to require a citizenship question on the decennial census, but not require a question regarding legal status as in the original bill. It would require apportionment of congressional districts to be based on only counts of citizens.
Per the amended H.R. 7109, “In conducting the 2030 decennial census and each decennial census thereafter, the Secretary” of Commerce would be required to “include in any questionnaire distributed or otherwise used for the purpose of determining the total population by States a checkbox or other similar option for the respondent to indicate, for the respondent and for each of the members of the household of the respondent, whether that individual is a citizen of the United States.”
Within “120 days after completion of a decennial census of the population,” the Commerce Secretary would need to “make publicly available the number of individuals per State, disaggregated by citizens of the United States and noncitizens, as tabulated in accordance with this section.”
H.R. 7109 would also amend apportionment law to require that, starting with the 2030 Census, “On the first day, or within one week thereafter, of the first regular session of the Eighty-second Congress and of each fifth Congress thereafter, the President shall transmit to the Congress a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed, and individuals who are not citizens of the United States…” [amended language emphasized.]
It was sent to the House floor on April 29 with House Report 118-476.
The bill is scheduled to be considered on the House floor the week of May 6.
IT Modernization
An April 29, 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Census Bureau’s information technology modernization efforts made a series of recommendations “related to managing requirements, estimating cost and schedule, and developing plans and time frames on cybersecurity and privacy challenges.”
Critical to Increase Accuracy in Population Estimates
In a Standard Deviations blog post, Allison Plyer and Cara Brumfeld argue that improving the accuracy in the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates program is essential. “The Census Bureau’s own studies showed undercounts in decennial data on rural residents, people of color, young children, and renters,” and new investments in appropriations law “will enable the Estimates team and its Base Evaluation and Review Team to use additional data to improve the annual updates.”
The authors continued: “Without adjustments in the annual estimates, communities that are underrepresented in the census receive less than their fair share of federal funds, exacerbating disparities and perpetuating inequity. This is where the Census Bureau’s expertise and innovation come into play. Through rigorous analysis and modeling, they refine the decennial census data to reflect the true population more accurately in 2020. Then each year they produce updated estimates that reflect births, deaths and migration patterns to provide an updated picture of who resides where and what their needs are.”
Read the full blog post.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) for the ACS
The Census Bureau filed a Federal Register notice on April 29 for the 2024 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Test on the American Community Survey (ACS) and is accepting comments for 30 days.
“The information collected in the 2024 ACS SOGI test will be used to evaluate the quality of data from questions on sexual orientation and gender identity. The research will inform recommendations for potential production ACS implementation on question wording and response options, whether a confirmation question is asked of everyone or only of those people with discrepant responses for sex at birth and current gender identity, and the style of write-in boxes to use for internet respondents. The data will also be used to produce descriptive statistics on the test topics, assess the impact on other questions on the survey that have changed, and gain insight into terminology by analyzing write-in responses and responses to qualitative questions asked in the test. Data will be assessed by mode of response as well as type of respondent (proxy or self-reported data), in addition to other sub-groups of interest.”
Constitutional amendment proposed to restrict apportionment to U.S. citizens
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH-08) introduced H.J.Res. 37, a joint resolution that would amend the Constitution to require apportionment of congressional seats to be based solely on the count of U.S. citizens: “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by counting the number of persons in each State who are citizens of the United States.”
Census Bureau News
The U.S. Census Bureau released five strategy documents outlining how it plans to carry out the next decennial census. The strategies cover the Census Bureau’s approach for conducting a complete count, designing operations, developing the IT solution, sourcing contracts and engaging with stakeholders for the 2030 Census.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced the appointment of Arturo Vargas as the chair and Nancy Bates as the vice chair of the newly formed 2030 Census Advisory Committee (2030 CAC).
The Bureau offered a webinar and press kit about the 2026 Census Test. The 2026 Census Test will be the first major field test for the 2030 Census, with a reference day (called Census Day) of April 1, 2026. The 2026 Census Test will be used to measure the effectiveness of innovative systems and methods that have been put into place to ensure feasibility and cohesive design of the count.
The Census Bureau offered press kits around Bureau presentations at the Population Association of America conference and the American Association of Geographers conference.
The Census Bureau Director Rob Santos blogged about the updated race/ethnicity standards coinciding with a Research Matters blog on the topic. The Census Bureau offered a press kit on Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Race and Ethnicity Standards.
A Census Bureau survey statistician published a blog on “A Guide to Report Exporting Gold.”
Deborah Stempowski, Associate Director for Decennial Census Programs, offered a blog about the Bureau’s testing of innovations.
The U.S. Census Bureau will offer a 2-day embargo period for qualified media to view the Vintage 2023 population estimates for local governmental units, including incorporated places, minor civil divisions and consolidated cities. Housing unit estimates will also be released for the nation, states and counties.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced the winners of the second phase of the StatVentures Supply Chain Challenge.
The Census Bureau warned businesses that they had one more week to respond to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 Annual Integrated Economic Survey (AIES). Data collection for the AIES began March 15. The due date for businesses to respond was April 30.
Census Bureau Data Releases
The U.S. Census Bureau released new experimental estimates showing children ages 0 to 4 were undercounted in the 2020 Census in every state. Additionally, there were undercounts of children ages 0 to 4 in more than 4 out of 5 counties included in this release. The experimental estimates are available only for counties with a population of 1,000 or more children ages 0 to 4, and are based on the Census Bureau’s Demographic Analysis (DA) estimates.
The U.S. Census Bureau released new Business Formation Statistics (BFS) for March 2024.
The voter registration rate (69.1%) for the 2022 congressional election was the highest registration rate of a midterm election in 30 years. However, the voter turnout rate (52.2%) was lower than in the 2018 (53.4%) midterm elections, according to the new Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2022 report released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report, based on data from the 2022 Current Population Survey (CPS) Voting and Registration Supplement, builds on detailed tables released earlier this year.
The U.S. Census Bureau released new data products from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), a survey that measures business conditions and projections on an ongoing basis, on April 25 and April 11.
The U.S. Census Bureau released new data from phase 4.0 of the experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS) on April 18.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a downloadable file containing estimates of the nation’s resident population by sex and single year of age as of July 1, 2023.
The Bureau offered press kits for the 2020 Demographic Analysis estimates, which include national-level estimates of the population by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin as of April 1, 2020. These estimates are developed from current and historical vital statistics – birth and death records, estimates of international migration, and Medicare records. The Demographic Analysis estimates are independent from the 2020 Census and will be used to calculate net coverage error, one of the two main ways the U.S. Census Bureau uses population estimates to measure coverage of the census.
Nationally, public school spending per student rose 8.9% from $14,358 in FY 2021 to $15,633 in FY 2022, according to new data from the 2022 Annual Survey of School System Finances released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents the largest percentage increase in public school spending per pupil in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in over 20 years. Statistics are not adjusted for inflation or cost-of-living differences between geographic areas.
U.S. capital expenditures for robotic equipment totaled $12,960 million (not statistically different than 2021 spending) and accounted for 1.1% of total equipment expenditures in 2022, according to new Annual Capital Expenditures Survey (ACES) estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
From 2010 to 2022, the nation’s foreign-born population increased by 15.6%. According to a new report The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2022 released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the foreign-born population was 46.2 million (13.9% of the total population) in 2022 compared to 40.0 million (12.9% of the total population) in 2010.
News You Can Use
Below are several articles posted on The Census Project home page in April 2024. For a complete listing, go to: https://thecensusproject.org/recent-media/.
Census Report Shows Voting Patterns Changing
The Dallas Express
April 28, 2024
Population Map Reveals States Growing, Shrinking the Quickest
Newsweek
April 25, 2024
What removing immigrants from census would mean for House seats
5News
April 23, 2024
Census change will lead to more data on health of Middle Eastern, North African people in US
Stateline
April 19, 2024
Navigating the Waves of Change: The Silver Tsunami’s Impact on Real Estate and Elder Care
TBBW
April 17, 2024
Here’s what the US Census’ new ‘MENA’ category means to Arab Americans in Michigan
MLive.com
April 16, 2024
Young children undercounted in 2020 census. What about in Utah?
KSL
April 13, 2024
Map Shows US States With Highest, Lowest Rent
Newsweek
April 10, 2024
Will being able to choose Hispanic as a ‘race’ on the census do a better job of identifying Latinos? We asked.
NBC News
April 10, 2024
Groups urge Census to reclassify Hmong people as ‘Southeast Asian’ not ‘East Asian’
AsAm News
April 7, 2024
What would it take to turn blue states red?
FiveThirtyEight
April 4, 2024
Census undercount leads to funding shortfall
WGCU
April 4, 2024
Census Bureau rethinks scope of remote work policy, consolidates office space
Federal News Network
April 1, 2024