Don’t Count Out the American Community Survey

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill that included language to eliminate the American Community Survey(ACS)  and impose a cap on spending for the 2020 Census.

Eliminating the ACS would severely undermine the collection of data vitally important to civil rights and human advocates, schools, businesses, lawmakers, and others who rely on its detailed information to help make critical decisions affecting millions of U.S. residents.

“No one can deny that we are a data-driven society,” said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “The public sector depends on these data to understand the people it is tasked with serving.  By the same token, no business would make important decisions without objective, accurate data as guideposts.  Why would some members of Congress want to run the government without the most accurate information available to guide their decisions?”

Since 2005, the ACS has functioned as a companion to the national census conducted every 10 years. While the census asks only a few basic questions, the ACS is a longer-form survey that asks a smaller sample of the population more detailed questions about their demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics. These detailed questions allow public and private decisionmakers and advocates to gain a more accurate understanding of the needs and challenges facing a diverse range of communities.

Target uses statistical information on housing, home value, income, and other demographics in order to better understand and serve their customers.

Executive Director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund Arturo Vargas also described what’s at stake in a Huffington Post op-ed:

“For the sake of the safety of communities that depend on federal funding for police and fire departments; for the families whose chance at economic mobility rests on availability of vocational education, Head Start programs, and improvement of failing public schools; for the citizens who participate in elections because they believe that each person has an equal vote and voice, Congress must give the Census Bureau the resources it needs to sustain the American Community Survey and to plan for and conduct an accurate, efficient 2020 count.”