The Missouri committee tasked with getting as many Missourians to be counted in the 2020 Census as possible got a four-month boost to its deadline Friday after Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order giving the committee until the end of November to complete its work and submit a final report.
The Missouri 2020 Complete Count Committee is "a collaboration of Missouri government, businesses, nonprofits and community groups that help develop, recommend and assist in the implementation of Missouri's 2020 Census outreach strategy," according to the committee's website.
"Our mission is to perform all efforts possible to ensure an accurate and timely count of all persons living in Missouri in order to secure federal funding and fair representation for Missourians over the next decade," the committee notes.
All members of the committee are appointed by Parson.
The committee had originally been tasked - before the COVID-19 pandemic - to complete its work and submit a final report by today.
However, the U.S. Census Bureau responded to the pandemic by extending the deadline to respond to the 2020 Census from July 31 to Oct. 31, so Parson on Friday signed an executive order giving the committee a new deadline to complete its work and submit a final report by Nov. 30.
"The Missouri 2020 Complete Count Committee's purpose remains the same, to heighten participation and awareness for the 2020 Census and coordinate messaging and community outreach in hard-to-count areas of Missouri," according to a news release from Parson's office.
"Extending the deadline for the committee's work will help ensure accurate and reliable census data is collected for the state of Missouri and reinforce the importance of having every Missourian counted," Parson said in the release.
"It is important to remember that participation in the census is a civic duty, just like voting. An accurate U.S. Census is fundamental to democracy and critical in determining the economic, social, and political voice of Missouri's citizens. It also ensures fair representation, funding, and investment for all communities," the release notes.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Census Bureau also on Friday sped up its own timeline for calculating the 2020 census numbers, with a deadline of Dec. 31 for processing data to be used to apportion congressional districts, the Associated Press reported.
The previous timeline - as recently as the day before - had been Oct. 31, 2020, through April 30, 2021, but a previous request in April made to Congress for an extension stalled in the U.S. Senate.
More information on Missouri's census committee is available at census.mo.gov/your-missouri-complete-count-committee.