LegiStorm

Summary:

The U.S. Constitution—Article I, Section 2, clause 3, as modified by Section 2 of the 14th Amendment—requires a population census every 10 years for apportioning seats in the House of Representatives. Decennial census data are used, too, for within-state redistricting and in certain formulas for distributing more than $450 billion annually in federal funds to states and localities. Census counts also are the foundation for estimates of current population size between censuses and projections of future size. Businesses, nonprofit organizations, researchers, and all levels of government are steady consumers of decennial and other census data. The Constitution stipulates that every enumeration is to be conducted “in such Manner as they [Congress] shall by Law direct.” Congress, through Title 13 of the United States Code, has delegated this responsibility to the Secretary of Commerce and, under the Secretary’s purview, the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau). Title 13 U.S.C., Section 221, requires compliance with the census and provides for a fine of up to $100 for nonresponse. In accordance with provisions of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Title 18 U.S.C., Sections 3559 and 3571, the possible fine has been adjusted to not more than $5,000. The 2020 census questionnaire, like that in 2010, will collect only the most basic population and housing information. Detailed socioeconomic data that formerly were gathered from a population sample in conjunction with the decennial census now are collected by the American Community Survey, which the bureau conducts separately from the census and at more frequent intervals. April 1, 2020, the official date of the 24th decennial census, will mark the culmination of extensive census planning, testing, and other preparations. A key objective, as Congress has directed, is to make the census more cost-effective without jeopardizing coverage and accuracy. The total life-cycle cost of the 2010 census was about $13 billion, reportedly an all-time high. To hold the 2020 cost to approximately $12.3 billion, the Census Bureau is focusing on four innovations:  using governmental administrative records and satellite imagery to eliminate some of the fieldwork involved in updating census addresses and maps, which are the basis for an accurate enumeration;  maximizing early census responses, especially online, to reduce the number of nonrespondents left for the bureau to contact by telephone or personal visits after the initial census phase;  further limiting nonresponse follow-up by using administrative records to help fill gaps in census information; and  better using technology to streamline fieldwork. At the same time, the bureau has a mandate to obtain the best possible accounting of all U.S. residents, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or living circumstances. The tension between funding the census sufficiently to produce good results and controlling census costs is apparent. Concerns as the 2020 census approaches include whether the bureau’s enacted appropriations have been and will be sufficient to permit complete testing and implementation of the census plan; whether technology, notably the new Census Enterprise Data Collection and Processing system, will be ready on schedule and will perform well; and whether information security will be adequate to deter cybercrimes against data, respondents, and bureau employees. This report will be updated as developments warrant.