August 11, 2020

Merkley, Wyden, Blumenauer, Bonamici Demand Fair Census, Slam Trump Administration Decision to Cut Count Short

The lawmakers are pushing for the reversal of a Trump administration move that would undermine a fair and accurate census count for Oregon

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, along with Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-1), are demanding that the Trump administration reverse course on its decision to undermine the 2020 census by closing the data collection period on September 30, a full month earlier than planned. If current response rates hold, only 70% of Oregonians would be counted before the Trump administration’s new deadline—which could jeopardize funding for schools, hospitals, fire departments, and more.

The announcement was met by stern criticism from a group of four former Census Bureau Directors, who have served in Democratic and Republican administrations, and from the agencies and nonprofits that rely on accurate census counts to enact effective policies.

“Oregon has roughly 1.3 million Hard-to-Count (HTC) individuals, in 36 counties. Without a robust response rate, the Census will be unable to capture these individuals, depriving communities of lifesaving and life changing government resources, including SNAP, housing assistance, Head Start, and fair representation in Congress,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham.

“We recognize the challenges the Census has faced in data collection through the COVID pandemic. This collection has faced historic obstacles, and at the same time, our state faces a historic need for resources. Depriving individuals the opportunity to be counted not only undercuts our democracy, but results in the failure to allocate millions of dollars in resources,” the lawmakers continued. “We request that you immediately return the collection deadline to October 31, 2020, to give Oregonians the necessary opportunity to respond to this important count.”

"Constantly shifting the census timeline is confusing communities that are routinely and systemically left out of the process. This change and the July 21 White House memo to prevent undocumented communities from counting are purposeful strategies to generate fear and mistrust. It is critical to our hard-to-count communities to move the date back to enable all people living in Oregon the constitutionally mandated right to be counted," said Esperanza Tervalon-Garrett, We Count Oregon State Campaign Manager. We Count Oregon is the first woman of color-led statewide census campaign in Oregon.

The full letter is available here and follows below.

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Dear Secretary Ross and Dr. Dillingham,

 

As members of Oregon’s congressional delegation, we write today to express our deep concern over your announcement ending the field collection of Census data a mere 50 days from today.

 

According to data available through the Census Bureau, Oregon’s self-response rate is at 65.6%.[1] However, some counties fall far below this rate. In Gilliam, only 25.2% of households have responded to the Census, and in Wheeler, only 27.2%. Washington County has one of the highest reporting-rates in the state at 74.1%, but there could be approximately 150,000 people in that county alone who have not been counted yet. At our current self-response rate (ranging around 0.1% per day),[2] our state will barely see a 70% response rate by the end of September — a month earlier than previously announced and widely advertised and promoted.

 

Oregon has roughly 1.3 million Hard-to-Count (HTC) individuals, in 36 counties. Without a robust response rate, the Census will be unable to capture these individuals, depriving communities of lifesaving and life changing government resources, including SNAP, housing assistance, Head Start, and fair representation in Congress.

 

We recognize the challenges the Census has faced in data collection through the COVID pandemic. This collection has faced historic obstacles, and at the same time, our state faces a historic need for resources. Depriving individuals the opportunity to be counted not only undercuts our democracy, but results in the failure to allocate millions of dollars in resources.

 

We request that you immediately return the collection deadline to October 31, 2020, to give Oregonians the necessary opportunity to respond to this important count. 

 

Sincerely,