Gary Peters US Senate issued the following announcement on Nov. 1
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is pressing the U.S. Census Bureau to swiftly address staffing shortages identified in a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on preparations for the 2020 Census. The report, which Peters requested as part of his ongoing oversight of the census, found that the Census Bureau has repeatedly missed key hiring targets due to factors including backlogs in the background check process, low pay rates, and long distance travel for census workers in rural areas. In a letter to Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham, Peters pressed for information on how the Bureau plans to hire the staff needed to conduct an on-time, accurate and cost-effective count.
“To ensure the 2020 Census is accurate, on-time, and on-budget, the Bureau must be able to efficiently hire trusted local workers who can help count their communities,” wrote Senator Peters. “Efficient hiring is essential for cost-effectiveness, to ensure the Bureau remains productive and does not have unexpected last-minute costs.”
According to the GAO, the Bureau is four months behind on its goal to hire outreach staff. The Bureau was scheduled to hire 1,501 partnership specialists – who coordinate local outreach to ensure communities respond to the census – by June 30, 2019. But by September, the Bureau had only hired 1,316. The hiring delays are largely due to a backlog of background checks, with more than 7,000 background clearances pending by March 2019. The Bureau has added staff to process clearances, but they are still significantly behind.
Earlier this year, Michigan suffered delays in hiring partnership specialists, though they are now fully on-boarded. However, the Chicago Regional Census office has reported recruiting outreach challenges in many areas in the region, including Detroit and “rural areas with increasing diversity."
As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has continued to press for an accurate and cost-effective 2020 Census. Earlier this year, he called for the inclusion of an additional $3.8 billion for census operations in the 2019 government funding bill that passed in February. The bipartisan legislation included a $1 billion increase over the prior year’s funding to ensure greater accuracy of census data for communities in Michigan and across the country as the U.S. Census Bureau prepares to conduct the 2020 Census. Peters has also urged appropriators to include full funding for the 2020 Census in any 2020 government funding bill.
Text of the letter is copied below and available here
Original source can be found here.
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