Earlier census deadline could cause W.Pa. officials to accelerate counts
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In an unprecedented move, leaders with the Census Bureau are cutting short in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, efforts that largely impact hard-to-count populations.
The decision, reported by NPR, moves the deadline for in-person census surveys from Oct. 31 to Sept. 30, potentially leaving some communities with uncounted residents — often those who are disproportionately poor, young or people of color. Undercounted populations could result in catastrophic outcomes for cities and towns across the country who rely on federal funding and congressional apportionment determined by the once-a-decade survey.
Across Western Pennsylvania, officials have been touting the census since last year. Now in the final push of securing a complete count, local leaders are honing in on areas with low self-response rates, efforts that may need to be expedited because of the date change.
Gregg Behr, co-chair of the Allegheny County Complete Count Committee, said he has not been notified of the change in dates for in-person counts. If there is a change, he said, the committee will accelerate plans already in place.
“We’re going to keep doing that and run through whatever finish line we all have,” Behr said. “But we’re still working with an expectation that that deadline is Oct. 31 because that was the deadline given to us.”
In Allegheny County, the self-response rate is 68.5%. That number jumps to 70.2% in Westmoreland County, which is finding itself in a similar position to Allegheny, said Phil Koch, executive director of the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County.
“I don’t think it will drastically impact the work that we are doing to get a clear and accurate count in Westmoreland County. … Considering that we’re operating in a pandemic with little in-person outreach and really relying on social media and our other efforts, outreach through nonprofits, I think we’re doing pretty well compared to previous years,” Koch said.
Across the state the response rate is averaging at 68.5%, while it drops to 62.8% across the country. About four out of 10 households have not yet responded to the census.
In a statement regarding the date change, the Census Bureau said it is “evaluating our operations to enable the Census Bureau to provide this data in the most expeditious manner,” adding that it is striving to “comply with the law by delivering a complete and accurate count of every person living in the country by the statutory deadline.”
Several census operations were delayed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Workers who were slated to go door-to-door from May 13 to July 31 only just started efforts this week in Western Pennsylvania.
To account for the delay, census leaders in April asked Congress for a four-month extension, or 120 days, for delivering final apportionment counts. That means the White House would receive counts by April 30, 2021, rather than Dec. 31.
But signals from the Trump administration suggest they want the census completed ahead of schedule, The New York Times reported.
White House and Commerce Department officials had been asking how the bureau can shorten its schedule to finish counting households earlier than scheduled, the newspaper said, adding that last week, the administration surprised Census officials by allocating “$448 million in the next coronavirus relief package for a ‘timely’ completion of the census.”
The administration did not elaborate on what exactly “timely” meant, leaving several Democrats fearful the move is a push for political gain by President Trump and Senate Republicans by pressuring the Census Bureau to wrap up the once-a-decade survey prior to having a complete count.
But, according to Behr, the census should not be “a political thing. This is a thing that goes to the heart of our democracy and how we structure our democracy and representation by and for the people.”