LANSING, Mich., Sept. 29, 2020 — State Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit) recently introduced House Resolution 304 to urge the restoration of an extended deadline for census data collection, which the Trump Administration is attempting to shorten. The extended deadline is intended to make up for time lost when stay-at-home orders were in effect. House Democrats have launched an aggressive public awareness campaign to ensure everyone completes the census on time.

“The Census Bureau’s ability to collect data from households has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially their ability to go door-to-door as they have in the past,” Carter said. “The mission of the census is to ensure every single person is counted, so it’s only logical that we provide the time necessary to accomplish that goal. Unfortunately, Trump is either disinterested in ensuring everyone is counted or is actively attempting to exclude people. This has been far from a normal year and we have had to develop creative solutions to many problems. The census is no different.”

This Spring, the Census Bureau extended data collection until Oct. 31 to compensate for time lost during stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in August the Trump Administration abruptly changed their opinion on the deadline extension and announced that data collection would cease a month early on Sept. 30. HR 304 would oppose that deadline and urge the federal government to honor its commitment to extend data collection until Oct. 31.

A judge recently issued an injunction to extend the window for data collection, but continued litigation offers no assurances that this decision will hold. The best way to ensure you will be counted is to complete the census by Sept. 30.

This resolution has been referred to the House Committee of Government Operations for review.

 

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