After the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump’s administration can stop the 2020 Census count early, the US Census Bureau announced that it will stop its data collecting operations on October 15, 2020.
The Census helps the federal government determine how local districts are represented in Congress and the amount of federal funds they receive.
The Census helps the federal government determine how local districts are represented in Congress and the amount of federal funds they receive.
“Federal funds, grants and support to states, counties and communities are based on population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors. Your community benefits the most when the census counts everyone. When you respond to the census, you help your community gets its fair share of the more than $675 billion per year in federal funds spent on schools, hospitals, roads, public works and other vital programs.”
US Federal Government
The US Census Bureau tried to cut its counting efforts short by a month earlier this year.
Pre-pandemic, the date would have been July 31 to stop counting. Post-pandemic, the Census Bureau planned for Oct. 31, but in a statement Aug. 3, the administration announced it was moving the end date to the end of September.
On Sept. 5, a U.S. district judge in the Northern District of California granted a temporary restraining order stopping the Census Bureau from implementing the shortened timelines given in its August statement. The bureau is temporarily stopped from winding down or altering any census field operations until a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 17.
You can respond to the Census online, over the phone by calling 844-330-2020 or through the paper questionnaire received in the mail.
