Appropriations Update
The Census Project was joined by over 50 national, state and local stakeholder organizations in sending a letter to House and Senate appropriators on December 2, 2021, in support of “including a spending anomaly for the Census Bureau in the next Fiscal Year 2022 continuing resolution (CR).” The House and Senate passed a continuing resolution that same day, H.R. 6119, which the President signed into law on December 3 as Public Law 117-70.
This current continuing resolution, which is keeping the federal government temporarily funded, expires on February 18, 2022.
The CR contained no spending anomalies of any kind, but stakeholders recognized the importance of communicating to Congress the Census Bureau’s needs and to urge the inclusion of a spending anomaly if another CR must be enacted.
Read the Census Project stakeholder sign-on letter and accompanying press release.
Policy Update
2020 Census Count Question Resolution (CQR)
Since the 1990 Census, the Census Bureau has “given tribal, state and local governments the opportunity to request a review of their once-a-decade census counts.” The bureau recently notified “eligible governments” about the opportunity to do so “through the 2020 Census Count Question Resolution operation (CQR).” The Bureau explained “what CQR entails, how it works and what it affects” in a December 12, 2021 blog post.
The Bureau will start accepting CQR cases on January 3, 2022.
Poverty Solutions Releases Report Regarding 2020 Census and City of Detroit
On December 16, Poverty Solutions, a project based at the University of Michigan, released a report, “Analysis of the Census 2020 Count in Detroit.” The report, which was prepared by researchers at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, and endorsed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, concluded that the 2020 Census undercounted Detroit residents by 8 percent. Poverty Solutions issued a press release highlighting the report’s major findings.
Census Bureau News
In November, the Census Bureau announced it would delay the release of the 2016-2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data, originally scheduled for December 2021, due to the negative impacts of COVID-19 on data collection. The Bureau claims it continues “to make progress towards a mid- to late-March 2022 data product release.”
A new technical note on disaster statistics and censuses from the Bureau was released as part of the Select Topics in International Censuses series.
The Opportunity Project (TOP) Summit: Open Innovation for All was a three-day virtual conference hosted by the Census Bureau, starting on December 13.
Census Bureau Data Releases
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2021 national and state population estimates and components of change released on December 21, the population of the United States grew in the past year by 392,665, or 0.1%, the lowest rate since the nation’s founding. The slow rate of growth can be attributed to decreased net international migration, decreased fertility, and increased mortality due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bureau also released a companion graphic, “How Does Your State Compare?”
A Census Bureau blog post explained some of the differences between the “pre- and post-2020 Census estimates.”
New data from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program, which provides the only up-to-date, single-year income and poverty statistics for the nation’s 3,142 counties and 13,163 school districts, was released on December 16.
The U.S. Census Bureau released new data from Phase 7 of the Small Business Pulse Survey (SBPS) on December 2, December 9, December 16, and December 23.
The Bureau also released new data from phase 3.3 of the experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS) on December 1 and December 22.
New estimates on the characteristics of nonemployer businesses were released as part of the 2018 Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D).
The Census Bureau released new population estimates and projections and other demographic data up to the year 2100 for 30 countries and areas in the International Database (IDB).
The Census Bureau released data tables on the Annual Survey of State Government Finances for fiscal year 2020. These statistics provide a summary of the finances of the state governments, as well as data for individual states and details on revenue by source, expenditure by object and function, indebtedness by term, and assets by purpose.
The Bureau released the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey report for data year 2020. The report estimates business spending in 2020 for new and used structures and equipment at the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) sector level, as well as three-digit and selected four-digit industries within those sectors.
U.S. merchant wholesalers had sales of $8,037.4 billion in 2020, a 6.6% decrease from $8,607.1 billion in 2019, according to estimates from the Annual Wholesale Trade Survey (AWTS).
Statistics released from the 2020 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) showed the value of shipments in the nation’s manufacturing sector decreased 8.9% to $5.2 trillion in 2020.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a list of 331 jurisdictions (counties and minor civil divisions) across the nation and three states that are required under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act to provide language assistance during elections for citizens who are unable to speak or understand English adequately enough to participate in the electoral process.
News You Can Use
Below are several articles posted on The Census Project home page in December 2021. For a complete listing, go to: https://thecensusproject.org/recent-media/.
The fastest growing states in the U.S. are all out West
Deseret News
December 27, 2021
We’re reporting Census data all wrong
CommonWealth
December 22, 2021
Americans Fled Blue States for Red States in Massive Numbers in 2021, Census Finds
The Washington Free Beacon
December 21, 2021
Report: 2020 Census May Have Missed Thousands In Detroit
CBS Detroit
December 17, 2021
Lessons for Philanthropy From the 2020 Census
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
December 15, 2021
Western Pennsylvania Is Dying – or Is It?
RealClear Policy
December 15, 2021
Who the Census misses
ABC News
December 12, 2021
Can this Latino statistician end the politicization of the US census? Some experts seem to think so.
Insider
December 10, 2021
Democrats decry gerrymandering — unless they control the maps
The Hill
December 10, 2021
Why the federal government’s new redistricting lawsuit matters to Texas
The Dallas Morning News
December 6, 2021
‘Unique Circumstances’ of 2020 Led U.S. Census to Make Changes in Effort to Improve Trust
Newsweek
December 3, 2021
How the Suburbs Have Changed Gerrymandering
The New York Times
December 2, 2021
More Americans living alone as milestones slip later in life
The Hill
December 1, 2021
Support our fight for accurate and complete census and American Community Survey (ACS) data with a donation to The Census Project.