September 5, 2020
Dear Friends,
After more than a year of announcements, partnerships and collaborative effort to get the word out, we are down to our final four weeks until the 2020 Census closes.
For more than a year now, I’ve been working with our Census officials, local legislators and community leaders to help ensure a safe, accurate count of our population, as directed by our U.S. Constitution. In that time, I have had the honor of joining with individuals and organizations across our Capital Region and have been inspired by their unbelievable determination to have every member of our communities counted.
While our drive to build this pillar of our representative government remains strong, the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered countless efforts to boost response rates and plans that were months and even years in the making were forced to halt in order to keep communities safe and slow the spread.
Making matters even worse and with our nation reeling from the ongoing pandemic, the Trump Administration announced that it would cut the Census one month short, moving the deadline up from October 30th to September 30th. This decision was made despite internal Census experts warning that the change could cause “serious errors” to the count and undermine the Constitutionally-required Census process.
The cost of this political move will not be felt equally. Underserved areas and communities of color are historically at the highest risk of an undercount and the first to lose out when services are cut. Ending the Census early adds to this threat and will have lasting impacts on how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds are spent on health care, hospitals, schools, infrastructure, community services and more.
Put simply, a lower Census response in our Capital Region will mean a smaller share of federal funding coming here to support these essential services.
On Thursday, I brought together a group of local leaders and Census officials to discuss this new and unexpected challenge of completing the count one month early, even as we manage the impact of the pandemic on existing operations and services. The group overwhelming affirmed that the lasting impacts of an undercount would devastate communities, resulting in slashing funding for education, nutrition and countless other services our neighbors depend on to eat, learn, work and live.
Their words and experiences made this simple truth even more evident: our communities need our fair share of federal support.
We need every member of our community to stand up and be counted to help ensure that our Capital Region is served based on our need. Otherwise we will miss out on funding we need to support basic resources, programs and services. And these effects will define our federal funding eligibility for the next decade.
Now is the time. If you haven’t already completed the Census, don’t wait any longer. Your help with this sprint to the finish now will impact what the next ten years will look like for yourself, your family, your friends and your community.
The Census is safe, easy, important and more urgent than ever. We all have a duty to raise our hands and do our part, and we all deserve to be counted.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
Throughout this pandemic, my office and I have worked to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations on any and all COVID-19 related topics. With that in mind here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- For taxpayers who pay estimated taxes: The next two quarterly estimated tax payments for tax year 2020 are due September 15, 2020, and January 15, 2021. IRS Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals, includes instructions to help taxpayers figure and pay their estimated taxes.
- IRS electronic payment options, where taxpayers can schedule their estimated and other federal tax payments, are:
- Direct Pay and EFTPS are both free payment options, and taxpayers can schedule their payments in advance and opt in to receive email notifications about the payment.
- Visit IRS.gov/payments to explore electronic payment options and get more information.
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