IMMEDIATE ADOPTION
Number
200581
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
Sponsor
ALD. JOHNSON
Title
Resolution directing all City departments to ask all individuals calling the City for non-emergency services whether they have received and completed their 2020 Census form.
Analysis
This resolution directs all City departments to ask all individuals calling the City for non-emergency services whether they have received and completed their 2020 Census form. It further directs the Department of Administration to create a framework for questioning and advising callers about their participation in the Census and verifying departmental compliance.
Body
Whereas, The COVID-19 crisis has complicated the federal Census Bureau’s efforts to conduct an accurate count; and
Whereas, In April of 2020, the Census Bureau stated it would need until the end of October, 2020, to complete in-person interviews and follow-ups; and
Whereas, In July, 2020, the Census Bureau announced it would cease in-person interviews on September 30, 4 weeks earlier than was originally planned; and
Whereas, Numerous former Census officials, including former Director John Thompson, have expressed concern that ending the Census early will result in a dramatic undercount of minority and other hard-to-reach populations; and
Whereas, According to the Urban Institute, more than 4 million people are at-risk of being undercounted in the 2020 Census; and
Whereas, The Urban Institute estimates that Black Americans could be undercounted by as much as 3.68% or 1.7 million people; and
Whereas, This same analysis projects that 3.65% Latinos and Latinas, around 2.2 million, could also be undercounted; and
Whereas, Children under the age of 5 could face an undercount as high as 6.31%, or approximately 1.3 million young children; and
Whereas, The Census is a once-in-a-decade event that determines not only each state’s Congressional seats, but also Electoral College votes and the apportionment of an estimated ...
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