It’s been a back-and-forth battle between the federal courts and the U.S. Census Bureau on when exactly the 2020 Census deadline would be, but after a Tuesday ruling from the Supreme Court, it seems as if the deadline will now be this upcoming Friday, October 16 at 4:59 a.m. CST.
“We’re still sputtering to try and get across the finish line for the 2020 Census,” Giles Ward of the Mississippi Complete Count Committee said on Wednesday morning. “A decision was rendered yesterday, and it’s a mistake to say that the court ordered the census to be stopped; they simply ruled that the U.S. Census Bureau and the administration had the authority to stop it upon when they feel is best, so it’s going to end this Friday.”
Even with the political mumbo jumbo surrounding this year’s census, it’s absolutely vital and required by law that you fill out the 10-minute, 10-question form, according to Ward.
“For every person that is not counted, we lose…approximately $50,000 per person over a ten year period,” he explained. “We have a responsibility under federal law to respond to the census. Take away all of the economic advantages that you have (with a complete census count). If you want to be a law-abiding citizen, you need to respond.”
Thus far, Mississippi’s self-response rate stands at 60.2 percent, which is bad enough to put the state at 45th out of 50 in self-response rankings as the national rate currently sits at 66.8 percent.
Including the data collected by enumerators, 99.4 percent of identified households in Mississippi have been accounted for, however, Ward stressed that the final .6 percent is more than needed for a state considered to be one of the poorest in the country.
“This remaining six-tenths of one percent to get to 100 percent represents literally millions and millions of dollars in lost revenue over the next ten years.”
To fill out the census, click here.
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