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A dozen U.S. business groups warned Congressional leaders of the dangers from a provision in federal funding legislation that would “would crater response rates to all Census Bureau surveys and result in the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS) counting barely a third of the country,” while having “negative ripple effects across the U.S. economy” and particularly hurting rural areas and small population groups.

The September 8, 2025 letter, led by the Insights Association, the leading nonprofit association representing the market research and analytics industry, was joined by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), American Planning Association, Association of National Advertisers (ANA), Claritas, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Business Economics (NABE), National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), National Association of REALTORS®, and Nielsen.

Section 605 of the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, which will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee on September 10, states: "None of the funds in this Act may be used to enforce involuntary compliance, or to inquire more than twice for voluntary compliance with any survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census.”

The business community letter noted that Section 605 "would (1) prohibit enforcement of the mandatory response requirement on the decennial headcount and the American Community Survey (ACS), and (2) severely constrict the ability to conduct basic contact and non-response follow-up operations across all Census Bureau surveys."

It would also “have an especially devastating impact on the decennial census, which historically must send substantially more than just two invitations to just secure self-response. According to data from the Census Quality Reinforcement Task Force, the 2020 Census had counted only 28% of U.S. households after the first two contacts, as of March 25, 2020, and no state had achieved even 35% coverage. This provision, by potentially cutting off inquiries after that point, including non-response follow up operations, would leave as much as two-thirds of the U.S. uncounted in the 2030 Census."

The provision "would likewise undermine coverage in the ACS and the Current Population Survey, which usually require 2.5 to 3 follow-up contacts. Major business, economic, and demographic surveys that have multiple follow-up contact strategies would be similarly hurt. These caps on contacts with households, businesses, retail purchasers, wholesalers, manufacturers and others will have serious consequences on the reliability and accuracy of the many economic indicators produced by the Census Bureau, which move markets in the U.S. and around the world."

The letter encouraged Congress to "secure reliable data through increasing response rates, not decreasing them. This will give American businesses the certainty to plan, attract, and execute future investments. With Section 605 limiting response rates, every other survey in the U.S. built on the population totals from the decennial count and estimates from the ACS will produce inaccurate data and insights. Businesses use census data to promote economic development, identify potential customers, understand audiences and create jobs. The scenario under Section 605 would be disastrous for American business decision-makers and hinder economic competition, development, and growth."

These U.S. business groups concluded by warning Congress that, “Section 605 would wreak havoc on Census Bureau surveys, and by extension on most every other survey and research study conducted across the country." As a result of these concerns, they called for the House to reject this appropriations policy rider.as the House CJS Appropriations bill advances.

• U.S. Business Community Letter on House CJS Appropriations Sec. 605  (9/8/25)