It is imperative to fill out the census as soon as possible.
By Lauren DeDomenic, Northside Leadership Conference, Allegheny General Hospital Partnership Coordinator
Photo by Lauren Stauffer
The Trump Administration ordered the census count to end on September 30th in August, reversing the original pandemic extension of October 31st. On Thursday, September 24th, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction to suspend the revised end date for the count and to require the Census Bureau to continue counting until the original October 31st deadline. As of September 29th, the Trump Administration appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Census Bureau announced operations would continue until October 5th.
Despite the possible extension, it is imperative to fill out the census as soon as possible. The Census determines the amount of federal funding that communities receive for schools, healthcare, roads, housing, and more. The census is used to allocate over $1 trillion dollars annually nationwide, and around $39 billion in Pennsylvania. It is estimated for everyone who remains uncounted, we lose $2,000 in federal funding per year. The federal funds can be used locally for everything from the Port Authority to Head Start Programs, which help children prepare for elementary school.
Census data helps to determine the quality of life throughout the Northside community. The extension would allow more time for hard to count or undercounted residents to have the chance to complete the census. Please remind your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors to fill out the census, their livelihood depends on it. Let us make sure the Northside is Counted! To make sure all Northside residents have the opportunity to be counted, census takers will be at the Northside Farmers Market in the Allegheny Commons Park from 3-7pm on Friday, October 2nd.
For updates on the census deadline, please visit 2020census.gov.
This article is sponsored by the Northside Leadership Conference.
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2020 Census response deadline uncertain, federal courts hear appeals to continue the count
Decennial 2020 Census closes early, September 30 last day to respond and record your history
