INSIDER
Some US states and NYC succeed in getting 2020 census numbers double-checked and increased
Read full article: Some US states and NYC succeed in getting 2020 census numbers double-checked and increasedIllinois is adding tens of thousands of people to its population total, and California is getting misplaced sailors on an aircraft carrier put in the right location.
AP interview: Census director aims to restore trust in count
Read full article: AP interview: Census director aims to restore trust in countThe next U.S. census isn’t until 2030, but already Census Bureau leaders are looking for ways to adapt to a roiled civic climate that only seems to be getting more contentious.
Census: Relief programs staved off hardship in COVID crash
Read full article: Census: Relief programs staved off hardship in COVID crashMassive government relief passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic moved millions of Americans out of poverty last year, even as the official poverty rate increased slightly.
Census experts find no political influence in state totals
Read full article: Census experts find no political influence in state totalsA task force of outside experts has found no evidence of political interference in the 2020 census numbers used for divvying up congressional seats among the U.S. states.
Census: 1 in 5 dorms, prisons had no data at end of US count
Read full article: Census: 1 in 5 dorms, prisons had no data at end of US countBy the end of the U.S. head count last year, the Census Bureau lacked data for residents in almost a fifth of the nation's occupied college dorms, nursing homes and prisons.
US marks slowest population growth since the Depression
Read full article: US marks slowest population growth since the DepressionThe first numbers from the 2020 census are out and show that America’s population growth has declined to its slowest rate since the Great Depression — a total now of just under 331.5 million.
US marks slowest population growth since the Depression
Read full article: US marks slowest population growth since the DepressionThe first numbers from the 2020 census are out and they show that America’s population growth has declined to its slowest rate since the Great Depression — a total now of just under 331.5 million.
Lawsuits over execution of 2020 census near conclusions
Read full article: Lawsuits over execution of 2020 census near conclusionsTwo legal challenges to the Trump administration’s execution of the 2020 census neared conclusions this week in the face of changes brought by President Joe Biden’s administration since he took office.
Businesses face hard decisions on whether, when to hire
Read full article: Businesses face hard decisions on whether, when to hireSmall businesses accounted for 47% of employment at U.S. companies, according to the most recent business census, in 2017. AdSince then, small businesses have added about 6.2 million jobs, the most recent ADP data show. More than 12% of small businesses cut jobs in the week ending Jan. 10. If the years following the Great Recession are an indicator, small businesses will be slow to staff up again once the economy improves. Even business owners who are hiring, such as restaurants looking forward to reopening when it’s safe to have indoor dining, are cautious.
Litigants take more cooperative approach in census lawsuit
Read full article: Litigants take more cooperative approach in census lawsuitFILE - This Sunday, April 5, 2020, file photo shows an envelope containing a 2020 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident in Detroit. The census data are used to determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets and the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. The coalition's legal fight forced the once-a-decade head count to continue two weeks pas t what the Trump administration had wanted. AdThe coalition was seeking data and documents to help assess the accuracy of the 2020 census, saying a shortened timeline for processing the data would compromise its quality. However, that deal did not include the motion by the coalition demanding information about how the Census Bureau collected 2020 census data, and a panel of three magistrate judges granted the coalition's motion to compel last week.
Census delay helps GOP in one statehouse, Dems in another
Read full article: Census delay helps GOP in one statehouse, Dems in anotherIn past decades, the Census Bureau has given Virginia and New Jersey priority in receiving their redistricting data so they can complete the process in time to run their elections. That’s too late to accommodate Virginia and New Jersey, so they will have little choice but to conduct elections this year under the existing boundaries. He said if legislative redistricting were rushed in time for the 2021 election, it would likely be with incomplete census data. AdThe House of Delegates lines that were created in 2011 were drawn by a Republican-controlled chamber to benefit the GOP. That in turn fueled a Democratic gain of six seats in the 2019 House elections, flipping the chamber to Democratic control.
US House data not ready until April, states' data after July
Read full article: US House data not ready until April, states' data after JulyThe new goal for finishing data processing for the apportionment numbers used for congressional seats is now April 30. The delay in the release of redistricting data could be problematic for states that have deadlines this year for redrawing their districts. New Jersey was prepared for such a scenario, with voters last fall approving a constitutional amendment that would address late-arriving redistricting data. One other option includes using other data sets for redistricting and then reconciling those data sets with the redistricting data the Census Bureau releases after July, Williams said. Gina Raimondo has been picked by Biden to be Secretary of the Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau.
Census decision deals blow to Trump efforts on House seats
Read full article: Census decision deals blow to Trump efforts on House seatsBureau workers laboring to comply with the Trump order were instructed to “'stand down' and discontinue their data reviews," Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a memo. That revised deadline dealt another blow to the apportionment order because it is weeks after Trump leaves office and President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in Jan. 20. Census Bureau directors have five-year terms and Dillingham's tenure isn't done until the end of the year. Whistleblowers told the Office of Inspector General that the Census Bureau has not set rules for categorizing the citizenship status of U.S. residents. “Presently, the Census Bureau’s highest priority is to successfully complete 2020 Census data processing in order to produce a complete and accurate count for the nation," Dillingham said.
Census Bureau to miss deadline, jeopardizing Trump plan
Read full article: Census Bureau to miss deadline, jeopardizing Trump plan“The delay suggests that the census bureau needs more time to ensure the accuracy of census numbers for all states,” said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former congressional staffer who specializes in census issues. The Commerce Department oversees the Census Bureau, which conducts the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident. They like to maintain the schedule, but that can’t be a priority for them," said Kenneth Prewitt, a former Census Bureau director during President Bill Clinton's administration. The Office of Inspector General said the Census Bureau failed to complete 355,000 re-interviews of households to verify their information was accurate. Former Census Bureau director John Thompson said the quality of the data is “the overarching issue” facing the Census Bureau.
With deadline looming, group wants more census documents
Read full article: With deadline looming, group wants more census documentsOn Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident from continuing through the end of October. The Supreme Court two weeks ago dismissed a challenge to Trump's order in a separate lawsuit from New York, saying it was premature. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of two other lawsuits, and overturned their decisions, in California and Maryland where judges had blocked Trump's order. The Supreme Court's decision is allowing the plan to move forward, but the Census Bureau has admitted discovering data irregularities in recent weeks that put Thursday's deadline in jeopardy. When asked this week whether it would meet Thursday's deadline, the Census Bureau referred to a website that said, “The Census Bureau is working hard to process the data in order to deliver complete and accurate state population counts as close to the December 31, 2020, statutory deadline as possible."
High court rules challenge to Trump census plan is premature
Read full article: High court rules challenge to Trump census plan is prematureThe Supreme Court has dismissed as premature a challenge to President Donald Trump's plan to exclude people living in the country illegally from the population count used to allot states seats in the House of Representatives. But the courts decision Friday is not a final ruling on the matter and it's not clear whether Trump will receive final numbers from the Census Bureau before he leaves office next month. If the president still has not received final census numbers by the time Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20, Trump's plan will be effectively dead because Biden is extremely unlikely to pursue it. The three liberal justices dissented, saying the effort to exclude people in the country from the population for divvying up House seats is unlawful. "This ruling does not authorize President Trump’s goal of excluding undocumented immigrants from the census count used to apportion the House of Representatives.
Census numbers-crunching documents at center of latest fight
Read full article: Census numbers-crunching documents at center of latest fightGovernment attorneys had asked Koh over the weekend to reconsider her order to release the documents or put it on hold. Last week, Koh ordered the government attorneys to produce documents that show details of the Census Bureau ’s plans, procedures and schedules for the numbers-crunching phase of the 2020 census. Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the committee's chair, has alleged that the Republican Trump administration is blocking the release of full, unredacted documents she requested about data anomalies. The Census Bureau has admitted discovering data irregularities in recent weeks that put the Dec. 31 deadline in jeopardy. Besides being used for apportionment and redistricting, the 2020 census numbers will help determine the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending.
House committee issues subpoena for Census documents
Read full article: House committee issues subpoena for Census documentsThe congressional committee that oversees the Census Bureau issued a subpoena Thursday to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, seeking documents related to data irregularities that threaten to upend a yearend deadline for submitting numbers used for divvying up congressional seats. The anomalies will likely force a delay of several weeks past a Dec. 31 deadline for the Census Bureau to turn in the congressional apportionment numbers. In a letter last week, Maloney wrote that the Commerce Department — which oversees the Census Bureau — missed a Nov. 24 deadline to give the documents to the committee. The Census Bureau said last week that the data irregularities affect only a tiny percentage of the records and are being resolved as quickly as possible. The House committee has obtained three new internal agency documents showing the Census Bureau plans to deliver the apportionment numbers to the president no earlier than Jan. 23, which would be shortly after Trump leaves office and President-elect Joe Biden takes over.
High court takes up census case, as other count issues loom
Read full article: High court takes up census case, as other count issues loomFILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo an American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether the Trump administration can exclude people in the country illegally from the count used for divvying up congressional seats. It's the latest, and likely the last, Trump administration hard-line approach to immigration issues to reach the high court. Will the quality of the census data be hurt by a shortened schedule, a pandemic and natural disasters? Will a lame-duck Senate pass legislation that could extend deadlines for turning in census numbers?
Anomalies found in data puts census deadline in jeopardy
Read full article: Anomalies found in data puts census deadline in jeopardyThe Census Bureau already was facing a shortened schedule of two and a half months for processing the data collected during the 2020 census — about half the time originally planned. The Census Bureau would not say Thursday what the anomalies were or publicly state a new deadline for the apportionment numbers. “These types of processing anomalies have occurred in past censuses," Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham said in a statement. “I am directing the Census Bureau to utilize all resources available to resolve this as expeditiously as possible. “The notion that the 2020 Census data could be processed in half the time scheduled given all the obstacles & challenges that Census Bureau encountered defies logic."
Census case that led to head count halt heads back to court
Read full article: Census case that led to head count halt heads back to courtA month after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end the 2020 head count of every U.S. resident, the case that propelled the ruling was back in a district court Friday, with advocacy groups and the Trump administration heading towards a full trial early next year. Koh's preliminary injunction in September halted efforts by the Census Bureau to finish the head count at the end of September, allowing it at the time to continue until the end of October. However, Department of Justice attorneys appealed, and the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration a month ago, allowing it to end field operations for the 2020 census. An appellate court for the time being suspended the part of Koh's injunction dealing with the Dec. 31 apportionment deadline. Department of Justice attorneys on behalf of the Trump administration said the court shouldn't get involved with day-to-day census operations that could interfere with the Census Bureau's efforts to meet the congressionally-mandated Dec. 31 deadline.
2nd group of judges blocks Trump order on House seats count
Read full article: 2nd group of judges blocks Trump order on House seats countThe Trump administration has appealed the New York decision to the Supreme Court, and the nation's high court agreed to hear the case next month. The Department of Justice, which is representing the Trump administration, didn't immediately respond to an email inquiry Thursday. Any appeal can bypass an appellate court and go straight to the Supreme Court. Department of Justice attorneys appealed to the Supreme Court, which last week allowed the Trump administration to end the census. In the order, Trump said that allowing people in the country illegally to be counted for apportionment undermines the principles of representative democracy.
Supreme Court halts census in latest twist of 2020 count
Read full article: Supreme Court halts census in latest twist of 2020 countAfter the Supreme Court's decision, the Census Bureau said field operations would end on Thursday. At issue was a request by the Trump administration that the Supreme Court suspend a lower court's order extending the 2020 census through the end of October following delays caused by the pandemic. “A census count delayed is justice denied," Liccardo said. The Census Bureau says it has counted 99.9% of households nationwide, though some regions of the country such as parts of Mississippi and hurricane-battered Louisiana fall well below that. “That said, the Supreme Court’s order will result in irreversible damage to the 2020 Census," Clarke said.
Appellate judges let 2020 census continue through October
Read full article: Appellate judges let 2020 census continue through OctoberKoh also struck down an Oct. 5 end date that the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, had pushed after the injunction, saying it violated her order. Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall wrote in an application to the Supreme Court that the appellate court's ruling will still force the Census Bureau to violate the Dec. 31 deadline. The proposal to extend the apportionment deadline passed the Democratic-controlled House, but the Republican-controlled Senate didn’t take up the request. The appellate judges also noted that just because the Dec. 31 deadline can’t be met practically doesn’t mean the court should require the Census Bureau to miss it. As of Tuesday, 99.7% of households nationwide had been counted, a figure that surpassed the completion rate in 2010, according to the Census Bureau.
Census takers: We're being told to finish early, cut corners
Read full article: Census takers: We're being told to finish early, cut cornersA San Francisco census taker, whose name was redacted in the email, was instructed to turn in census equipment on Wednesday since field operations were ending. The census taker asked the judge to order the Census Bureau to stop laying off census takers, also called enumerators, so that the head count will continue through October as the judge had ordered. Another census taker, who only was identified as “Mr. Instead, they said they wanted full compliance with the judge's order, arguing the Trump administration had violated it “several times over." The complaints by the census takers echo concerns that other census takers have made to The Associated Press over the past week.
Montana presses to finish census, eyeing 2nd House seat
Read full article: Montana presses to finish census, eyeing 2nd House seatBut the 2020 census deadline remains in flux, making it uncertain if census takers will finish counting the vast, rural state. But the 2020 census deadline remains in flux, making it uncertain if census takers will finish counting the vast, rural state. Experts say a second House seat is a prize the state can scarcely afford to lose. In an August report, the bureau stated it needed 2,000 census takers, also called enumerators, to complete Montana's count. An extension would give Montana's enumerators a chance to overcome these challenges, getting closer to the coveted second House seat.
Judge says 2020 census must continue for another month
Read full article: Judge says 2020 census must continue for another monthBefore the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, around the same time the census started for most U.S. residents, the bureau had planned to complete the 2020 census by the end of July. Previously, the Census Bureau had only half that time for data processing, from the start of October until the end of December. The San Jose, California-based judge earlier this month issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Census Bureau from winding down field operations until she ruled. Attorneys for the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce had said during the hearing they would likely appeal if the judge ruled against them. “Every day that the 2020 Census count continues, and Census operations appropriately continue, will help ensure the accuracy and completeness of this once-in-a-decade tally.”___Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP.
Wildfires and hurricanes disrupt final weeks of 2020 census
Read full article: Wildfires and hurricanes disrupt final weeks of 2020 censusThe Census Bureau is contending with several natural disasters as wildfires and hurricanes disrupt the final weeks of the nations once-a-decade headcount. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)ORLANDO, Fla. – Already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic and a tightened deadline, the Census Bureau must now contend with several natural disasters as wildfires and hurricanes disrupt the final weeks of the nation's once-a-decade headcount. A coalition of cities and civil rights groups are suing in federal court in San Jose, seeking an extra month. “This is not usually the time of the year that the Census Bureau is doing the counting." In some places where census takers cannot go out, they are trying to reach households by phone, according to Census Bureau officials.
'It's going horribly': College towns fret about census count
Read full article: 'It's going horribly': College towns fret about census countThe confusion has enormous implications for college towns, which may face severe shortfalls in federal dollars and a dilution of political power. The Census Bureau sought the help of college administrators in getting rosters for off-campus students who left town, but only half of the schools cooperated. From Tempe to places like Bloomington, Indiana, and Gainesville, Florida, the looming undercount could harm college towns across the country. The Census Bureau says college students should be counted where they would have been on April 1 at school if not for the outbreak. College students overwhelm the demography of places with large universities, Poston said.
Battered by the virus, tribes race to boost census count
Read full article: Battered by the virus, tribes race to boost census countSome predict a historic undercount of Native Americans in this year's census as the coronavirus complicates efforts to encourage participation. Only 24% of residents of Montana tribal areas had been counted as of Sept. 1, woefully lagging the national rate of 85%. The distances, language barriers and wariness of giving up details about sometimes-crowded living conditions have long made it difficult to get an accurate census count, especially given a distrust of the federal government rooted in a history of broken treaties. But the Census Bureau estimated those living on reservations were undercounted by 4.9%, twice as much as any other group. Most people filled out this year's census online, another challenge in tribal areas where many homes don't have internet access.
July US jobs report is expected to point to hiring slowdown
Read full article: July US jobs report is expected to point to hiring slowdownThe jobs report for July being released Friday will provide the clearest answer yet. Economists have forecast that employers added 1.6 million jobs, according to a survey by data provider FactSet. Yet it would still fall far short of June's 4.8 million increase and May's 2.7 million gain. Some economists say Friday's report could even show that the nation lost jobs in July. Once an economy starts to recover, companies typically try to derive as much production from their existing employees as they can before taking the risk of hiring more people.
Census takers to visit homes that have not responded
Read full article: Census takers to visit homes that have not respondedFILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham, right, knocks on the door alongside census worker Tim Metzger as they arrive to conduct the first enumeration of the 2020 Census in Toksook Bay, Alaska. Thousands of census takers are about to begin the most labor-intensive part of Americas once-a-decade headcount. The 2020 census started in January in rural Alaska where census takers visited homes much earlier than the rest of the country because of the difficulty in reaching those places. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
Census takers to visit homes that have not responded
Read full article: Census takers to visit homes that have not respondedFILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham, right, knocks on the door alongside census worker Tim Metzger as they arrive to conduct the first enumeration of the 2020 Census in Toksook Bay, Alaska. Thousands of census takers are about to begin the most labor-intensive part of Americas once-a-decade headcount. The 2020 census started in January in rural Alaska where census takers visited homes much earlier than the rest of the country because of the difficulty in reaching those places. Census takers will ask questions about who lives in a household and the residents race, sex and relations to each other. The temporary census takers are being paid from $14 to $30 an hour, depending on their location.
Census door knockers starting in 6 states later this month
Read full article: Census door knockers starting in 6 states later this monthBefore knocking on doors, the census takers will have to take a virtual training class on COVID-19 safety protocols. If masks are required in the area, census takers will wear them,"' the bureau said. The 2020 census will help determine how many congressional seats each state gets and the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending. As of Tuesday, 61.8% of U.S. households had answered the 2020 census questionnaire on their own either online or by mailing back a form. The Census Bureau is planning on hiring hundreds of thousands of census takers to knock on the doors of 56 million households that haven't yet filled out their forms.
Job market remains grim even as U.S. tentatively reopens
Read full article: Job market remains grim even as U.S. tentatively reopensYet with millions more Americans seeking unemployment aid last week, the U.S. job market remains as bleak as it's been in decades. He said that hes hopeful of keeping his job and that as business picks up during summer, more workers can be rehired. During April, U.S. employers shed 20 million jobs, eliminating a decades worth of job growth in a single month. Millions of other people who were out of work werent counted as unemployed because they didnt look for a new job. Second-highest is in Nevada, where one-quarter of the state's workers have been approved, followed by Oregon and Florida.
Not sure what to do when your Census letter comes in the mail? We’ll help you with 2 key questions
Read full article: Not sure what to do when your Census letter comes in the mail? We’ll help you with 2 key questionsCensus Day is set for April 1, and that’s a key reference date for the 2020 Census. Onto those questions you might have:What are the ways I can respond to the Census? To answer the first question, there are three ways: One, return the letter that is sent out in mid-to-late March. The Census Bureau is required by law to keep the information of respondents confidential, according to its website. Here’s a graphic from the Census Bureau that explains more.
Supreme Court allows partisan districts, blocks census query
Read full article: Supreme Court allows partisan districts, blocks census queryThe decision could embolden political line-drawing for partisan gain when state lawmakers undertake the next round of redistricting following the 2020 census. The court rejected challenges to Republican-drawn congressional districts in North Carolina and a Democratic district in Maryland. Federal courts in five states concluded that redistricting plans put in place under one party's control could go too far and that there were ways to identify and manage excessively partisan districts. But when the Supreme Court threw out the Wisconsin ruling on procedural grounds that did not address the partisan gerrymandering claims, the justices also ordered a new look at the North Carolina case. There was no immediate response from the White House on either Supreme Court decision Thursday.