Group asks Congress to allocate $400 million to address significant challenges
— from We Count Washington —
Seattle, WA—More than 100 leaders and elected officials in Washington state are calling on Congress to extend the census deadline and allocate $400 million to address census challenges, a move they say is necessary to ensure a fair count of underrepresented communities including Black and Indigenous People, Communities of Color, and immigrant Communities.
Following the Trump administration’s decision to prematurely end the deadline to follow up with Americans who have not completed the census, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and 88 members of Congress have asked for the next COVID-19 relief package to extend deadlines for the census and invest $400 million into addressing COVID-related census challenges. A letter sent to House and Senate leaders today supports Rep. Jayapal’s recommendation and cites concerns that the 2020 census has faced numerous challenges including the global pandemic, the president’s court battles to include a citizenship question and an Executive Order to exclude undocumented immigrants from the congressional apportionment process.
“The 2020 Census count will determine the extent to which our community is able to access the resources we need to survive and thrive for the next ten years,” said Gordon McHenry Jr., President and CEO of the United Way of King County. “In Washington state, we have come together and moved mountains to be counted. And yet, more than three out of ten households in our state, representing undercounted communities, are yet to be counted. At United Way, we are committed to building an equitable and just future, and we cannot accept this. We need our congressional leadership to assist our state, and our country in completing a fair and accurate count.”
Leaders say an undercount disproportionately affects funding and services for non-white communities in an already challenging economic climate.
“Right now, undercounted communities are facing unprecedented need, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color,” said Michelle Merriweather, President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. “The 2020 Census will determine how federal relief dollars are spent in our communities for the next 10 years. We need to ensure that everybody in our community is counted so that our schools, hospitals, and more can thrive. In order for that to happen, we need to extend the response time to the previously agreed-upon deadline of October 31, 2020.”
The group is urging Congress to allocate $400 million in funding to be used to address the impacts of the coronavirus on the 2020 Census.
“Now, more than ever, we are reminded just how critical it is that our communities have the resources we need as we battle a public health crisis that is straining all of our systems,” said Susan Balbas, Executive Director of the Na’ah Illahee Fund. “Our Native communities here in the United States face extraordinary challenges of violence and erasure. We are standing together to say that today, in this 2020 Census, we are still here. And we demand to be counted.”
In their letter, Washington leaders and elected officials note that cutting the census deadline short is a violation of the constitution, denying people their right to be counted.
“The Census is a vital part of our democracy,” said Memo Rivera, Vice President of SEIU 775. “These numbers are used to calculate vitally important funding for programs like Medicaid, highway projects, and SNAP, and determine political representation for the areas we live. As a union we know it’s through our numbers that we build power and make change politically. Every person in our country deserves to be counted as we continue to fight for equity in our healthcare system, and racial and economic justice.”
Link to letter to Congress from WA leaders: https://wecountwashington.org/2020/08/13/washington-state-leaders-demand-an-extension-of-statutory-reporting-deadlines/
About We Count Washington:
We Count Washington is a community-wide effort to ensure historically undercounted communities in Washington state are counted in the 2020 census. For more information, visit https://wecountwashington.org/.
I ask myself why am I surprised. But what I really am asking is how can this be done just unilaterally. Aren’t there protections in our democracy, our laws, that prevent these overt acts of suppression? I find myself asking this question almost daily – it is exhausting.