COVID-19 and the Census.

• Author: Underbill, Wendy

There are things you can count on: Mom's welcoming arms, daisies in June and the decennial census, among them. Now COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on all the good planning that has gone into the 2020 census.

Most people know we count every person living in the United States once every decade, and they probably think of the census as a point of national pride. Policy people know the "enumeration" undergirds the distribution of federal money to the states, is the basis for reassigning U.S. House seats and provides the data the states use for redistricting. But, for many, that's as far as the interest goes.

The census has adhered to the same cast-in-concrete timeline since 1980. Census Day is April 1 of the year ending in zero; data for divvying up congressional seats is due on the president's desk no later than Dec. 31 of the same year. And redistricting data--as defined in Public Law 94-171, which was pushed forward by NCSL in our first year of existence--is due to the states no later than March 31 of the year ending in "1." Then came the coronavirus.

Thanks to COVID-19, the timeline for gathering the data is delayed. While it's never been easier for households to respond to the census, not everyone does it without a personal knock on the door. It's standard operating procedure for the bureau to send workers to every nook and cranny of the nation to make sure the count is as accurate as possible--something the bureau decided can't happen now because of the virus.

Census Date Changes Activity Pre-COVID-19 Post-COVID-19 Data gathering begins January 2020 January 2020 Data gathering ends July 31, 2020 Oct. 31, 2020 (*) Data for congressional Dec. 31, 2020 April 30, 2021 (**) reapportionment due Data for redistricting March 31, 2021 July...