As the U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday that it is asking Congress for more time to deliver the results of the 2020 Census, the City of Brier is holding on to its title as the best-responding city so far in Washington state — with a 71.8 percent response rate.

Brier is also the 101st best-performing municipality out of 19,132 in the United States, said Toby Nelson of the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 2020 Census is currently underway and over 70 million households have responded to date, representing over 48% of all households in America. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Census Bureaus said it is adjusting 2020 Census operations in order to:

• Protect the health and safety of the American public and Census Bureau employees.
• Implement guidance from federal, state and local authorities.
• Ensure a complete and accurate count of all communities.

The Census Bureau temporarily suspended 2020 Census field data collection activities in March. Steps are already being taken to reactivate field offices beginning June 1, 2020, in preparation for the resumption of field data collection operations as quickly as possible following June 1.

The Census Bureau originally announced at the end of March it was suspending field operations for two weeks, to April 15.

In-person activities, including all interaction with the public, enumeration, office work and processing activities, will incorporate the most current guidance to promote the health and safety of staff and the public, the Census Bureau said. This will include recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing practices.

Once 2020 Census data collection is complete, the Census Bureau said it will begin “a lengthy, thorough and scientifically rigorous process” to produce the apportionment counts, redistricting information and other statistical data products that help guide hundreds of billions of dollars in public and private sector spending per year.

To ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau is seeking statutory relief from Congress of 120 additional calendar days to deliver final apportionment counts.

Under this plan, the Census Bureau would extend the window for field data collection and self-response to Oct. 31, 2020 — delayed 120 days from the original July 31 date. This will allow for apportionment counts to be delivered to the President by April 30, 2021, and redistricting data to be delivered to the states no later than July 31, 2021.