2020 Census needs major cash infusion, commerce secretary will tell Congress on Thursday

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/2020-census-needs-cash-infusion-commerce-secretary-will-tell-congress-thursday/2017/10/10/76df44be-ad06-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_census-145pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.26d0c6cad3af

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross plans to ask Congress for a major increase in funding Thursday to salvage the 2020 Census, a program beset by cost overruns, poor preparation and a population of Americans who are less likely than at any point in recent history to self-report their existence to the federal government.

The Commerce Department now estimates that the decennial effort will cost $15.6 billion — $3.3 billion, or nearly 27 percent, more than earlier estimates by the Census Bureau, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post.

The testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday will put Ross, a longtime champion of the census, at the center of a potentially explosive political fight about spending for the decennial count, which has faced criticism in recent months for being dangerously underfunded.

The results of the constitutionally mandated survey determine the distribution of congressional seats, affect the shape of districts and help decide the flow of more than $675 billion a year in federal funding. The full count of all people living in the United States and its territories every 10 years is also vital to businesses, civic organizations and others whose work relies on demographic data.