General Discussion

Tanuki

(14,920 posts) Mon Apr 10, 2017, 01:14 AM Apr 2017

Trump's threat to the 2020 census

http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/04/trumps-threat-to-the-2020-census-000404

...."Already, Congress’ inability to agree on a full-year funding measure for fiscal 2017 has forced the Census Bureau to cancel multiple field tests and delay opening three field offices. It also had to cut back on new, less labor-intensive methods for verifying household addresses, a critical undertaking that was supposed to make the 2020 Census more cost-effective and accurate.

And more broadly, the Trump administration’s hardline rhetoric and executive orders cracking down on undocumented immigrants may already be creating a major new risk for the census, making members of minority and immigrant communities less likely to respond.
.....
Based on lack of funding and technical challenges, in January, the Government Accountability Office added the 2020 Census to its “high risk” list of programs and agencies. Without extra money to ramp up, "I am increasingly worried about a higher undercount in many communities,” said Terri Ann Lowenthal, co-director of the Census Project, an organization which tracks the census. “We could be headed for a train wreck if the Census Bureau doesn't get the resources it needs."

The Census affects every corner of America, determining where hundreds of billions of federal dollars flow annually, where businesses open new stores and which states gain—or lose—seats in the House of Representatives in 2020 reapportionment. Businesses, trade groups and local communities have been tracking the progress for the 2020 Census for years, since its preparations first began before the completion of the 2010 Census."....(more)