2020 Census giving its last gasp

The Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday upholding the Trump administration’s demand to prematurely shut down the 2020 U.S. Census is bad news for hard-to-count communities in Travis County. The new and final deadline for filling out the census is Friday, Oct. 16, at 5 a.m. and census campaigners are working urgently to reach every person they can before the deadline. Austin Mayor Steve Adler was not far off the mark when he said, “There may be only moments left!” He pleaded with residents to fill out the online survey, noting, “A fair democracy requires a fair Census process that seeks to count everyone.” State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt added, “I agree with Justice Sotomayor that we will be irreparably harmed by rushing the Census count. Anyone who has not already done so should go to My2020Census.gov right now and complete their Census.” Eckhardt and Adler co-chair the Austin-Travis County Complete Count Committee, which has been working to count every Travis County resident. The results of the once-a-decade survey of the country’s population are “far-reaching and impact federal funding for public schools, transportation dollars for roads and buses, reimbursement for health care programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, among other services. Census data also informs the way political districts are drawn for Congress, State House seats, and school board members.”