The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund released a statement on October 29, from CEO Arturo Vargas on the United States Senate proposal to allocate $6.7 billion in funding for the 2020 Census:
“Ahead of our government conducting its constitutionally mandated decennial count of every resident in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau must be positioned to successfully and accurately carry out its planned operations. The Census Bureau needs the certainty of full-year funding in an amount that is well above the $5.3 billion the Administration requested. With the Senate voting on the FY 2020 appropriations for the U.S. Census Bureau, both chambers must move quickly to resolve the differences in funding in order to get a final bill signed into law.
“We only have one chance per decade to get this right. Congress has the responsibility to appropriately fund the Census Bureau so that it can carry out its obligations.”
“Funding for the Census should never be used as a bargaining chip, and with so much on the line, from the allocation of $800 billion in federal funding to the apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Census Bureau literally cannot afford to be shortchanged by Congress. The Census is not optional and its implications are wide-ranging. Without the proper capacity to carry out its duties, the Census Bureau would be in a position that could lead to disastrous consequences for communities all across América.
“Given the current political climate, the last thing the Census Bureau needs is a lack of dependable funding to carry out its planned operations. We only have one chance per decade to get this right. Congress has the responsibility to appropriately fund the Census Bureau so that it can carry out its obligations. This means Washington must act fast, put its differences aside and approve a reliable and NALEO Educational Fund is the nation’s leading non-profit, non-partisan organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.
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