John,

Congress is currently in negotiations on funding bills for FY 2025, which must pass by September 30th. One key issue is adequate funding for the U.S. Census.

The census is an important cornerstone of our system of government; the Constitution requires that every person be counted and a census has been taken every 10 years since 1790. Census data determines reapportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Electoral College, and overall representation at the state and local levels. Census data is used to make sure that $2 trillion a year is allocated fairly and where it’s most needed. Census data is used to make essential government decisions such as how to manage emergencies.

2025 is a critical year for the 2030 Census. It marks the halfway point in the decade-long planning process. The Census Bureau will be developing and preparing to test new strategies to make sure everyone is counted.

That’s why the Coalition on Human Needs has joined with dozens of allies at the national, state, and local levels to call on Congress to increase the census budget to $2 billion, as recommended by nonpartisan census experts, and oppose any proposals to cut its funding.¹ Unfortunately, last week a House Appropriations subcommittee approved a cut of Census Bureau funding to $1.354 billion―an amount that is well below both the agency’s FY 2024 funding level ($1.382 billion) and the Administration’s FY 2025 budget request ($1.6 billion).

It’s essential that we have accurate population counts, particularly of low-income households, rural households, households of color, and young children. Will you join us in calling on Congress to defend census funding now?

Census data informs the allocation of over $2.1 trillion a year in federal funding for infrastructure, health care, child care, education, rural housing and business development, first responders, nutrition programs, money for veterans, and much more.² And 2030 is a big year because for the first time, the census will provide more diverse identification options for people from the Middle East and North Africa and Hispanic residents.

Right-wing members of the House are pushing to cut census funding and some want to exclude non-citizens from the count, which would be unconstitutional. Asking a citizenship question on the census will create anxiety and fear and lead to an undercount of millions of documented people who live in mixed immigration status households―including nearly 5.5 million children.³ Cutting census funding means more people in historically undercounted groups―including people with low incomes, Black and brown people, and young children―will be left out of the count, leaving them under-represented and their communities underfunded.

An undercount of these vulnerable communities means less money for Medicaid, public schools, housing, child care, and other critical services and programs to diverse communities across the country.

We cannot allow the most vulnerable communities to continue to be erased.

Join us in calling on Congress to defend census funding and fight back against proposals that would prevent everyone from being counted.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ FY25 Census Bureau Funding Sign-on Letter
² FY2025 Dear Colleague Letter
³ Immigration reform can keep millions of mixed-status families together