Honorable Patty Murray
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Murray,
The Census Bureau must finalize the 2020 Census operational plan and complete all census preparations, including ensuring IT system readiness and security, opening all local census offices, hiring 76,000 canvassers to verify the master address list, and launching early communications activities targeting hard-to-reach communities. In addition, the Census Bureau must continue to produce vital, ongoing economic, social, and demographic data to support informed decision-making by the public and private sectors.
To conduct these activities well and bolster funding for additional necessary initiatives, census stakeholders recommend a Census Bureau appropriation of at least $4.735 billion, to be spent in FY 2019. Within this amount, we recommend $3.928 billion for 2020 Census preparations (Periodic Censuses and Programs account line item) and $270 million to support the Current Population and Surveys account, to hold funding steady from FY2018.
While the funding recommendation is $933.5 million above the President's FY 2019 request for the Census Bureau as a whole, it reflects a boost in funding for the 2020 Census that is only $475.5 million above the Commerce Department's own cost estimate for FY2019.
Additional funding is necessary to ensure that the Census Bureau can meet real and growing threats to an accurate count across the country. Communities and populations at risk of an undercount include rural, American Indian, and Alaska Native areas; immigrant households (regardless of legal status); minority neighborhoods; young children; and communities hit hard by the opioid crisis.
Failure to address public concerns about cyber-security threats, fear of law enforcement and immigration authorities (especially in light of the new citizenship question), and consequences of the digital divide for census participation (e.g. rural, older, and low income households) now will likely require tens (or even hundreds) of millions dollars more to count unresponsive households — and threaten the overall fairness and accuracy of the census.
With additional funding in FY 2019, census stakeholders suggest four targeted investments:
Finally, but importantly, to ensure robust and uninterrupted ramp-up and preparations in these critical remaining months leading up to the 2020 Census, we urge Congress to give the Census Bureau sufficient flexibility to spend more of its FY2019 appropriation in that fiscal year and to approve requests for additional spending on vital activities based on identification of real-time risks and emerging threats to a successful census.
Failure to allocate sufficient resources in 2019 jeopardizes a fair and accurate 2020 Census!
Sincerely,