Page 12 - Workforce Magazine April 2020

CENSUS UPDATE 2020

Census may be extended

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The U.S. Census Bureau wants to delay
deadlines for the 2020 head count of all U.S. residents

because of the coronavirus outbreak, a move that if

approved by lawmakers would push back timetables for
releasing data used to draw congressional and legislative

districts, officials said Monday.

Census Bureau officials said they were postponing all field
operations until June 1 and the deadline for wrapping up

the nation's head count was being pushed back to Oct.

Field operations for the 2020 census have been suspended
since mid-March and were set to resume this week. The

deadline for finishing the head count also had been pushed

back from the end of July to mid-August because of the
pandemic.

Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham and Secretary of
Commerce Wilbur Ross, whose department oversees the

bureau, said they are seeking to delay the deadline for

delivering state population counts used for apportionment

— the process of carving up congressional districts — from
the end of this year to the end of April 2021.They also want

to push back the deadline for giving states data for

redistricting from the end of March 2021 to the end of July

2021.Both deadlines are established by federal law and any
changes would require congressional approval.