Booker and Schatz Intro Bill on Census Funding to Ensure People of Color Are Adequately Represented

Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) have teamed up yet again. This time, the pair introduced the Census Funding Cap Adjustment Act (CFCA), a bill to ensure the Census Bureau is adequately funded in advance of the 2020 decennial Census. Historically, federal funding has increased significantly in the years preceding a count of the U.S. population. However, Trump’s 2018 budget proposal requested $1.497 billion for the Census Bureau, just a 2% increase, which the Senators say is tantamount to flat funding. The decennial Census has historically undercounted communities of color, low-income Americans in both urban and rural areas, and immigrant communities. The 2010 Census failed to count more than 1.5 million residents of color, including over 2% of Black Americans and 1.5% of Latino Americans. “The importance of accurate and truly representative census data cannot be overstated: census data affects everything from how votes are counted and congressional districts are drawn to what kind of support communities receive from the federal government in everything from health to education. And that is why it is so important that all communities are counted equally -- something we know hasn’t happened in past censuses when communities of color and low incomecommunities have gone undercounted,” said Booker. “Accurate census data is a critical tool in protecting civil rights, expanding economic opportunity and ensuring democratic representation. Our bill will correct the Trump Administration’s decision to inadequately fund this critical agency at a time when accurate Census data is more important than ever before.” More here.