Editorial: Time running out for Census 2020

The U.S. Census Bureau’s once-a-decade head count, which got underway in March, shortly before COVID-19 spread upended everyday life here, is slated to wrap up in about three weeks.

Last week, according to the bureau’s progress chart, the self-response rate in the islands was just shy of 62%, ranking Hawaii among the bottom 10 states. Hawaii households must now see to it that everybody gets counted, either online or with assistance from a bureau worker in door-to-door enumeration. Failing to do so will shortchange the flow of federal dollars to our state for the next decade.

What’s more, in addition to determining how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is distributed, the 2020 Census results will decide how many congressional seats each state gets and other election-related matters. An undercount means Hawaii is denying itself of due representation. For the remainder of this month, we must redouble efforts to get this job done.

Federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, nutritional assistance, housing vouchers, roads and transportation upgrades are Census-dependent. In addition, in a recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser commentary, Hawaii U.S. Rep. Ed Case pointed out that distribution of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES ) Act money, was based largely on 2010 Census data, in which Hawaii’s response rate was 68%.

Getting an accurate count, especially among historically undercounted groups that may be most in need of federal assistance, Case said, is “critical to a small state like Hawaii, with some 20% of our state budget federally funded.”

In fiscal year 2017, Hawaii received an estimated $5.8 billion from federal programs based on population counts, with upwards of 60% of the money going to Medicare and Medicaid programs, which serve low-income residents. For people in this bracket to secure needed health-care attention through the next decade, it’s important to get counted. This month.

Even in the absence of pandemic, the bureau’s constitutionally mandated count of every person living in the U.S. — some 330 million people in a very diverse population — is daunting. Federal law requires results to be delivered to the president by the end of this year. But the Trump administration has pushed up the planned deadline for responses, to the end of this month from Oct. 31.

Last week, Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors joined a coalition of nearly two dozen attorneys general and others to rightly push back, taking legal action to halt this “rush plan,” which threatens accuracy. In a written statement, Connors said: “The accuracy of the census count is something we all should care about deeply. … The government’s goal should be greater fidelity to accuracy rather than less.”

Also, two federal lawsuits — one filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the other by the National Urban League — are seeking return to the extended schedule the bureau developed in response to the pandemic. Even so, the clock is ticking.

If you haven’t yet submitted your completed 2020 Census questionnaire, do so online (my2020census.gov) or by phone (844-330-2020). Assistance is available in more than one dozen languages, and the answers provided are confidential; the Census Bureau cannot release any identifiable information.

The 2020 Census is the first in which most people are being encouraged to answer the questions online, though people can still answer the questionnaire by telephone or by mailing back a paper form. Workers conducting follow-up enumeration have official Census Bureau photo identification, and are trained to follow COVID-19 public health directives. To verify a worker’s ID, call 808-650-6608.