Congressman Gonzalez Signs Bipartisan Letter to Census Bureau on Reaching Hard-to-Count Communities

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) signed a bipartisan letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director, Dr. Steven Dillingham, requesting updates on the steps that the Census Bureau has taken to ensure people in hard-to-count communities have adequate access to up-to-date computers in public spaces in order to complete the Census forms online.

The 2020 Census is the first Census in U.S. history to be conducted primarily online and out-of-date computer hardware remains a critical issue due to the online nature of the 2020 Census form. This directly impacts those in hard-to-count, low-income, rural, and communities of color who often have limited access to reliable broadband and depend on computers in public community spaces.

"The future of our district and nation depend on the outcome of the 2020 Census," said Congressman Gonzalez. "Almost 47% of the district lives in hard-to-count neighborhoods and more than a quarter of households lack internet service. All efforts on a federal level must be made to focus on hard-to-count areas and ensure a fair and accurate count across the board. I will continue to advocate for every available resource to make this happen."

This year, Congress appropriated $6.7 billion for the purpose of conducting the 2020 Census. This money provides an opportunity for the Census Bureau to remove barriers to completing the 2020 Census for hard-to-count communities. The 2020 Census will be used to allocate over a trillion dollars in federal funding that will impact the life of every person living in this country.

An interactive hard-to-count map of the 15th District of Texas is available here.

Fact sheet on hard-to-count communities for the 15th District of Texas is available here.

The full letter is available here and below:

Dr. Steven Dillingham

U.S. Census Bureau

4600 Silver Hill Road

Washington, DC 20233

To Dr. Steven Dillingham,

We are writing to inquire about the steps that the Census Bureau is taking to ensure that there is adequate access to computers in public spaces in advance of the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census is the first Census that will be conducted primarily online. As we prepare to guarantee every American – especially those living in rural communities – is counted, we need to address the lack of up-to-date technology in our public community spaces. Various community leaders have expressed their concern regarding the nature of the 2020 Census form's formatting. It may not be accessible by computers with hardware over a decade old – an issue especially affecting rural communities who rely heavily on resources in available community spaces.

It is imperative for public community spaces to have computers that are up-to-date, particularly in rural communities where access to broadband is limited and that have been historically "hard-to-count." Low-income communities and communities of color in rural areas are the most likely to be accessing the Census form on a public computer during the first wave of outreach. These constituents rely heavily on community spaces to have the technology necessary to access the Census registration forms.

Mobile Questionnaire Assistance Centers (MQACs) are meant to bridge the gap in "hard-to-count" areas. As of now, 1 out of every 9 Americans do not have access to the internet. Without the adequate number of MQAC's, these areas could be under counted in the Census. Currently the amount of MQACs stands at roughly 4,500 units. This number is insufficient to count hard to reach communities and puts the Census at a greater risk of being incomplete. We therefore request responses to the following questions:

1. The Census online response form will be available online from March 12^th onward. What steps will regional directors be taking to ensure that all public computers are able to access the 2020 Census form by mid-March? How late into the non-response follow-up period (NRFU) will the Bureau be accepting online responses, for example, from households that got a Notice of a Visit by an enumerator?
2. Has the Census Bureau assessed the ability of the current stock of public computers to access the 2020 Census?
3. When regional directors and their staff conduct visits to communities, how will they report their plan to reach every community? Will the reports be made public?
4. How will the Census Bureau ensure constituents learn about the availability of MQACs and where they are located? Is there a plan to increase the number of MQACs?
5. Will public computers be exempted from the per day per IP address form submission limit so that they can better serve communities with limited internet connectivity?

This year the Census Bureau was given $6.7 billion for the purpose of conducting the 2020 Census. That funding provides an opportunity for the Census Bureau to remove barriers to completing the 2020 Census for "hard-to-count" communities. More than ever before, the Census Bureau is relying on technology to encourage Americans to self-report and assist them in doing so. A lack of access to public computers is a new barrier to an accurate count that will need to be addressed as part of the Census Bureau's preparations for the 2020 Census.

We appreciate your consideration of this request. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us or have your staff contact us. We look forward to your answers and continued cooperative efforts and request a response by February 28^th, 2020.