Appropriations Update
As reported in a September 27 Census Project blog, Congress and the White House agreed to a short-term spending measure or continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government funded the first three months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, which began October 1. The law extends spending for federal agencies, including the U.S. Census Bureau, through December 20 at their current FY 2024 levels.
On November 12, Congress returned to Washington, DC for a lame-duck, post-election session. One of the session’s primary goals is to complete work on all 12 of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations bills (including the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bills which funds the Census Bureau) before the current CR expires. Given the outcome of the elections, it is not yet clear how the FY 2025 appropriations process will be resolved. There are three plausible outcomes: 1) Congress passes all 12 bills (either individually or as an omnibus spending package) before December 20; 2) Congress passes another short-term CR lasting either a few weeks or months; or 3) Congress passes a year-long CR. The outcome of the FY 2025 appropriations process will be heavily influenced by the views of the incoming Trump Administration, which as of the end of November were not known.
Policy Update
2024 Election Outcome: What it Means for the Census Bureau
On November 21, The Census Project published a blog updating stakeholders on what is known about the outcome of the 2024 election and its possible impacts on the Census Bureau. The blog reflects on potential changes in the agency’s leadership and census-related policy priorities that the incoming Trump Administration may pursue.
President-Elect Trump Announces Commerce Secretary Nominee
On November 19, President-Elect Trump announced his intention to nominate Howard Lutnick to serve as Secretary of the Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau’s parent agency. Mr. Lutnick is Co-Chair of the president’s transition team and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, an American-based financial services firm. The Commerce Secretary nomination requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The Senate Commerce, Science, Transportation Committee, which has oversight of the Commerce Department, is expected to schedule a confirmation hearing after the 119th Congress convenes in January 2025.
Experts Release Series of Census Accuracy Guides
In a November 26 blog, The Census Project promoted a series of guides “on census accuracy for civil rights organizations, advocates, and policymakers” produced by The Center for Poverty and Inequality (CPI) at Georgetown Law. The purpose of the guides is to educate these groups on “the key concepts and methods” for interpreting census results and pushing “for improvements that lead to a fairer count.” The first guide “covers essential concepts, such as net and gross accuracy and differential undercounts,” the second “describes the Bureau’s main evaluation methods: Demographic Analysis and the Post-Enumeration Survey” and the third “summarizes accuracy trends from the 2020 Census and previous counts.”
Census Bureau Requesting Comments on American Community Survey
In November, the Census Bureau issued two requests for public comments regarding the American Community Survey (ACS). Specifically, the Bureau is requesting comments on the ACS Methods Panel and the proposed extension of the American Community Survey (ACS) and Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS). A recent Census Project blog provides additional information about how interested stakeholders can respond and why these are important opportunities to highlight unique uses and significance of the ACS.
Census National Advisory Committee Meets
On November 7-8, 2024, the Census Bureau held the fall meeting of its National Advisory Committee (NAC). NAC received and responded to presentations on a variety of topics, including efforts to test sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the ACS, implementation of the revised Federal race and ethnicity data collection standards, and the status of the Open Census Initiative. The full agenda, presentations, and meeting minutes can be found on the Census Bureau website.
Legislation Introduced to Create Mid-Decade Census for U.S. Island Territories
Del. Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands) recently introduced H.R. 10054, a bill that would require the Census Bureau to conduct a special census of U.S. “insular areas” every five years. As reported by The Census Project, the bill has been referred to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee for further consideration.
Census Experts Reflect on Supplemental Demographic and Housing Characteristics
In a Census Project “Standard Deviations” blog, Bill O’Hare, Peter A. Morrison, and Dudley Posten offered their views on the impact Differential Privacy could have on the Supplemental Demographic and Housing Characteristics file. The authors state that their “focus here is on resulting problems with data on children and their parents as well as implications for producing disaggregated data. But most of the problems we discuss also apply to other relationship data produced by the Census Bureau.”
Biden Administration Accused of Manipulating Census Data on Broadband Connectivity
In an October 31 letter, Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee accused the Biden Administration of “manipulating census data to suppress the number of American households connected to high-speed internet via wireless and satellite technologies.” The senators claim that federal “agencies have deliberately excluded” rural and hard-to-reach “households from a new census data project about U.S. broadband adoption.” For more information, read The Census Project blog.
Census Project Unveils New Website
The Census Project is pleased to announce a new website. Launched in 1999, it is only the second-ever refresh of The Census Project website. An accompanying press release describes the changes, which were informed by census stakeholders nationwide. Please check it out at Home – The Census Project.
Census Bureau Blogs
Census Bureau Director Robert Santos reflected on the 30th anniversary of the Census Bureau’s home page in a November 14th blog.
In November, Census Bureau officials published blogs via the agency’s “Random Samplings” series:
- November 18, Updating the Race/Ethnicity Code List for the American Community Survey and the 2030 Census
- November 5, Implementation of SPD 15 in the American Community Survey.
On November 7, Census Bureau officials published a “Research Matters” blog entitled, “Methodology, Limitations and Applications of the 2010-2020 Intercensal Population and Housing Unit Estimates.”
Census Bureau News Releases
On November 18, the Census Bureau announced it had published a Federal Register notice (FRN) asking for public comment on proposed updates to its race/ethnicity code list as part of the Race/Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The updated code list will be used when the combined race/ethnicity question is implemented in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2030 Census.
On November 12, the Census Bureau released an analysis documenting that 64% of households were classified as family households in 2024. Family households are defined as those that include at least one person related to the householder by birth, marriage or adoption. The data were derived from the Census Bureau’s historical America’s Families and Living Arrangements tables.
In a report, “Trends in Veteran Disability Status and Service-Connected Disability: 2008–2022” that was released on November 6, the Census Bureau found that the share of U.S. veterans with service-connected disabilities increased from 15% in 2008 to about 30% in 2022.
On November 5, the Census Bureau and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) held the first Collaborative Academic Symposium “Puerto Rico en Datos” (Translation: Puerto Rico in Data) in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The symposium focused on topics such as the economy, demographics, health, housing, geography and availability of data on Puerto Rico.
The Census Open Innovation Labs announced on November 4 the opening of the application window for Phase 2 of the StatVentures Address Geolocation Challenge.
Census Bureau Data Releases
On November 24, the Census Bureau released new population estimates, projections and other demographic data up to the year 2100 for 34 countries and areas in the International Database (IDB).
On November 21 and 7, the Census Bureau released new data products form the Business Trends and Outlook Survey.
The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) data product and the OnTheMap application were unveiled on November 19.
On November 19, the Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, released the 2023 Current Population Survey (CPS), Civic Engagement and Volunteering (CEV) Supplement Microdata File. The released described the data product as “the most robust longitudinal survey about volunteerism and other forms of civic engagement in the United States.”
On November 7, the Census Bureau released the first set of 2010-2020 intercensal population and housing unit estimates. Intercensal estimates are produced once every 10 years after the decennial census. They revise the prior decade’s estimates to align with the most current census.
News You Can Use
Below are several articles posted on The Census Project home page in November 2024. For a complete listing, go to: 2024 Media – The Census Project
Californians Who Left for Remote Work Have Shown ‘Signs of Returning’
Newsweek
November 25, 2024
The Top Expenses Pushing Millions of Americans Into Poverty
Newsweek
November 16, 2024
Census Hits Pause On Revising Disability Questions
Disability Scoop
November 15, 2024
Map: How many veterans live in your state?
The Hill
November 11, 2024
Census Bureau Embraces Modernization, Data Innovation
GOVCIO
November 8, 2024
Supreme Court to weigh in on Louisiana’s latest congressional map
Roll Call
November 4, 2024