Recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce has expunged three committees involved in the U.S. census process. The National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations (NAC), the 2030 Census Advisory Committee (CAC), and the Census Scientific Committee have been dismissed. Many advocates worry that such committees are still greatly needed with the next census being five years away.
In the past year, the disability community, including a task force from the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD), has advocated vigorously to determine what the definition of disability will look like in the American Community Survey (ACS). ACB is a member of CCD. Advocates believe that newly suggested definitions could negatively impact the disability community by decreasing the survey number of people with disabilities, which will impact resources allocated to that population.
At this time, we do not know if the elimination of the three committees will impact the important discussions that have been going on. However, the changes going on make us apprehensive. The former leader of the U.S. Census, Director Robert Santos, has resigned. He had played a role in the discussions with the disability community. ACB will follow the eradication of these committees closely to determine if it will impact the positive discussions that previously took place.
Posted on March 5th, 2025