Title: Fair and Accurate Census Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Fair and Accurate Census Act
This bill extends the deadline for the U.S. Census Bureau to complete the 2020 decennial census of population and related tabulations and provides $400 million to address the impacts of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) on the census and to support enhanced census activities.
The bill requires the bureau to report specified information, such as (1) the total number of field staff, sorted by category; (2) the anticipated schedule of census operations; (3) total spending on media, advertisements, and partnership specialists; and (4) post-enumeration survey schedule and completion progress, including anticipated schedule for release of results from the coverage measurement survey.
An institution of higher education may provide to the bureau information requested for purposes of enumeration for the 2020 decennial census of population, subject to certain public notice requirements. The institution may not provide any information to the bureau on an individual's immigration or citizenship status.
The bureau may not compile, produce, or publish any data product or tabulation as part of, in combination with, or in connection with the 2020 decennial census of population or any such census data that includes topics specific to the 2020 census that were not part of a report submitted on March 28, 2017, and the 2018 End-to-End Census Test conducted in Providence County, Rhode Island.
The bill provides funding for specified activities, including expanded communications and advertising targeted to low self-response communities in rural and urban areas, Alaska Native villages, and on tribal lands.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4048 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4048

  To modify the deadlines for completing the 2020 decennial census of 
      population and related tabulations, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2020

Ms. Harris (for herself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To modify the deadlines for completing the 2020 decennial census of 
      population and related tabulations, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fair and Accurate Census Act''.

SEC. 2. CENSUS DEADLINE MODIFICATION.

    Notwithstanding the timetables provided in subsections (b) and (c) 
of section 141 of title 13, United States Code, and section 22(a) of 
the Act entitled ``An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 
decennial censuses and to provide for apportionment of Representatives 
in Congress'', approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(a)), for the 2020 
decennial census of population--
            (1) the tabulation of total population by States required 
        by subsection (a) of such section 141 for the apportionment of 
        Representatives in Congress among the several States shall be--
                    (A) completed and reported by the Secretary of 
                Commerce (referred to in this section as the 
                ``Secretary'') to the President within 13 months after 
                the decennial census date of April 1, 2020; and
                    (B) made public by the Secretary not later than the 
                date on which the tabulation is reported to the 
                President under subparagraph (A);
            (2) the President shall transmit to Congress a statement 
        showing the whole number of persons in each State, and the 
        number of Representatives to which each State would be entitled 
        under an apportionment of the then existing number of 
        Representatives, as required by such section 22(a), and 
        determined solely as described therein, within 14 days after 
        receipt of the tabulation reported by the Secretary; and
            (3) the tabulations of populations required by subsection 
        (c) of such section 141 shall be completed by the Secretary as 
        expeditiously as possible after the census date of April 1, 
        2020, taking into account the deadlines of each State for 
        legislative apportionment or districting, and reported to the 
        Governor of the State involved and to the officers or public 
        bodies having responsibility for legislative apportionment or 
        districting of that State, except that the tabulations of 
        population of each State requesting a tabulation plan, and 
        basic tabulations of population of each other State, shall be 
        completed, reported, and transmitted to each respective State 
        within 16 months after the decennial census date of April 1, 
        2020.

SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 2020 CENSUS.

    On the first day of each month during the period beginning on the 
date of enactment of this Act and ending on July 31, 2021, the Director 
of the Bureau of the Census shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 
the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Appropriations of 
the House of Representatives a report regarding the 2020 decennial 
census of population that contains the following information:
            (1) The total number of field staff, sorted by category, 
        hired by the Bureau compared to the number of field staff the 
        Bureau estimated was necessary to carry out the census.
            (2) Retention rates of the field staff described in 
        paragraph (1).
            (3) Average wait time for call center calls and average 
        wait time for each language provided.
            (4) Anticipated schedule of census operations.
            (5) Total appropriations available for obligation for the 
        census and a categorized list of total disbursements.
            (6) Nonresponse Follow-up, Update Enumerate, and Update 
        Leave completion rates by geographic location.
            (7) Anticipated schedule and completion rates for Group 
        Quarters (including Service-based Enumeration and Targeted Non-
        Sheltered Outdoor Location operations), Enumeration of 
        Transitory Location, and Remote Alaska operations.
            (8) Self-response rates by geographic location.
            (9) Total spending to date on media, advertisements, and 
        partnership specialists, including geographic and 
        demographically targeted breakdowns of the spending.
            (10) Post-enumeration schedule and subsequent data 
        aggregation and delivery progress.
            (11) Post-enumeration survey schedule and completion 
        progress, including anticipated schedule for release of results 
        from the coverage measurement survey.

SEC. 4. PROVIDING BUREAU OF THE CENSUS ACCESS TO INFORMATION FROM 
              INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
including section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 
U.S.C. 1232g) (commonly known as the ``Family Educational Rights and 
Privacy Act of 1974''), an institution of higher education may, in 
furtherance of a full and accurate decennial census of population, 
provide to the Bureau of the Census (referred to in this section as the 
``Bureau'') information requested by the Bureau for purposes of 
enumeration for the 2020 decennial census of population.
    (b) Application.--
            (1) Information.--In carrying out subsection (a), an 
        institution of higher education--
                    (A) may only provide the Bureau with information 
                requested on the official 2020 decennial census of 
                population form; and
                    (B) may not provide any information to the Bureau 
                on the immigration or citizenship status of any 
                individual.
            (2) Notice required.--
                    (A) In general.--Before providing information to 
                the Bureau under subsection (a), an institution of 
                higher education shall--
                            (i) give public notice of the categories of 
                        information that the institution plans to 
                        provide; and
                            (ii) allow 10 days after giving public 
                        notice for a student to inform the institution 
                        that any or all of the information designated 
                        may not be released without the prior consent 
                        of the student.
                    (B) Prohibition.--An institution of higher 
                education may not provide the Bureau with the 
                information of any student who has objected to the 
                provision of that information under subparagraph (A).
            (3) Use of information.--Information provided to the Bureau 
        under subsection (a) may only be used for the purposes of 
        enumeration for the 2020 decennial census of population.
    (c) Definition of Institution of Higher Education.--In this 
section, the term ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning 
given the term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1002).
    (d) Sunset.--The authority under this section shall expire at the 
conclusion of 2020 decennial census operations.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION.

    The Bureau of the Census may not compile, produce, or publish any 
data product or tabulation as part of, in combination with, or in 
connection with, the 2020 decennial census of population or any such 
census data produced under section 141(c) of title 13, United States 
Code, that includes topics specific to the 2020 decennial census that 
were not part of--
            (1) the report submitted under section 141(f)(1) of that 
        title on March 28, 2017; and
            (2) the 2018 End-to-End Census Test conducted in Providence 
        County, Rhode Island.

SEC. 6. FUNDING.

    (a) Appropriation.--There is appropriated to the Bureau of the 
Census, out of amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for 
additional amounts for ``Periodic Censuses and Programs'', $400,000,000 
for fiscal year 2020, to remain available through fiscal year 2021.
    (b) Use of Funds.--The amounts made available under subsection (a) 
shall be used to address the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 
(COVID-19) on the 2020 decennial census, and to support enhanced 2020 
decennial census activities, including--
            (1) additional mailings to households that have not self-
        responded;
            (2) expanded communications and advertising targeted to low 
        self-response communities in rural and urban areas, Native 
        villages, and on Tribal lands;
            (3) targeted outreach to the location of the 2018 End-to-
        End Census Test;
            (4) increased in-language outreach and assistance;
            (5) expanded Census Questionnaire Assistance capacity;
            (6) expanded field operations to enumerate people 
        experiencing homelessness at service-based facilities and non-
        sheltered locations; and
            (7) a modified Questionnaire Assistance Center operation 
        that includes mobile and fixed locations offering assistance 
        across all modes of census response.
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