New Yorkers prepare for the 2020 Census (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

The House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee has received and released the list of the U.S. Census Bureau’s community partners for the 2020 Census, including hundreds of entities in New York. The once-a-decade count of the entire country’s population, mandated by the Constitution, has already begun in Alaska and is due to start in the rest of the country on April 1, with initial mailings going out next week.

According to the Census Bureau, the list includes partner organizations that have “made voluntary commitments to conduct 2020 Census promotional outreach as part of the Community Partnership and Engagement Program and have indicated their willingness to be public.”  The Census Bureau provides more information on community partners on its website including how to get involved.

The Census, which goes a long way to determining congressional representation and federal funding for states and localities, is being taken particularly seriously this time around by New York City officials, while the state is also making significant efforts to ensure a full count. Both levels of government are making millions of dollars available to community-based organizations to help drive census participation. Some of those same organizations, and many others, are on the U.S. Census Bureau’s community partners list.

Last month, the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which is chaired by New York City Rep. Carolyn Maloney, held a hearing to examine preparedness for the 2020 Census with the U.S. Census Bureau Director, Dr. Stephen Dillingham, among others. The hearing focused on the Government Accountability Office report that raised concerns about the Bureau’s preparedness.

One concern was the number of partnerships that the Census Bureau had successfully made in local communities, with the GAO report warning that the Bureau had “missed interim goals building towards its overall goal of 300,000 community partners by March 2020.”

Dillingham was pressed by many of the committee members to release a list of partners to the committee so they could aid in finding community partners in their own districts. The committee had requested a list of all the partners in all the districts on December 13, 2019, but had not received a response by the time the hearing was held on February 12, 2020. Dillingham said during the hearing that he would get the list to the committee as soon as possible. It is now public, three months after the initial request.

Partnerships are key to creating relationships in communities that can help increase participation in the Census. According to the U.S. 2020 Census website, partners are “vital to ensuring a complete and accurate count. As trusted voices in your communities, you play a key role in raising awareness that the 2020 Census is easy, safe, and important.”

The list shows over 2,500 community partners in New York City, with 611 in the Bronx; 1,444 in Brooklyn; 338 in Staten Island; 1,091 in Queens; and 1,282 in Manhattan.

The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens especially have many census tracts, a small geographic area designated by the Census Bureau to gather data, that are considered “hard to count” for the Census based on past self-response participation levels. According to the interactive Hard to Count Map developed by CUNY Graduate Center using Census Bureau data, tracts are considered hard-to-count if they had a 2010 self-response initial mail return rate of 73% or less, making them among the bottom 20% of return rates nationwide.

In the 2010 Census, New Yorkers were undercounted. Brooklyn, also known as King’s County, was the hardest to count county in New York State that census, and the Bronx was the third hardest county in the state to count, according to the Brooklyn Community Foundation and BronxTalk, respectively.

Accordingly, 80% of Brooklyn residents live in hard-to-count neighborhoods, which often consist of many immigrants, African-Americans, children under 5, and other groups often undercounted, in part because of historically low self-response rates to initial Census mailings.

Appearing on BronxTalk to discuss challenges to census participation in that borough, Dr. Lessie Branch, associate professor at the Metropolitan College of New York, said much of why the Bronx is undercounted is a lack of trust. This lack of trust is what the U.S. Census Bureau is trying to remedy through these community partnerships, and what the city and state are trying to overcome through grants to local organizations.

“This is what partnerships do, they are trusted voices in the community that can tell the community we need to participate, that it’s good for us, good for the community, and our data will be protected,” said J. Christopher Mihm, managing director, strategic issues at the GAO, during the congressional oversight hearing last month. “That’s not something that can come out of Washington, that has to come from trusted local voices. That’s the importance of local partnerships.”

A full census count is essential for states and localities to receive proper funding for social services and other programming, including affordable housing grants, food stamps, and much more.

The partners in every borough span many sectors and industries. In the Bronx, they include cultural institutions such as the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the New York Botanical Gardens, as well as many local police precincts, public and private schools, senior daycares, advocacy organizations including the Williamsbridge NAACP, and private companies including Planet Fitness.

Most of the Bronx has been designated as a “very high risk” for undercounting young children, according to CUNY’s Hard To Count Map, which is being used across the country. Partnerships can play a role in addressing these risks by utilizing organizations that target certain important at-risk demographics. For young children, who are often undercounted, the partnerships with public schools, the Bronx Children’s Museum, or Concord Head Start/Early Learn Center can play a key role, for example.

In Brooklyn, some of the partners include religious institutions such as the Redemption Church and the Sheepshead Bay Muslim Center, nonprofit organizations including the Research Foundation of CUNY, and senior centers.

Some examples of partners in Manhattan include the Kennedy Center, a number of Manhattan Community Boards, the Interfaith Center of New York, and the Family Health Center of Harlem.

Amboy Pharmacy, BP Gas Station, Cafe Milano, NYCHA, and PS 41 are examples of some of the partners on Staten Island, while Queens has partners including Little Friends Infant and Toddler Care, Liberty Tax Service, and many others.

Official partners can participate in the Census in different ways. The Census 2020 website breaks partnership opportunities down into three main categories: “make a plan,” “strategize,” and “attend an event.” The “make a plan” section provides key dates and information regarding the Census so partner organizations can plan their outreach based on when information is most crucial.

The “strategize” section provides partners with the Response Outreach Area Mapper (ROAM) application, which was developed to help locate hard-to-survey areas. From this, partners can begin outreach in their own communities, armed with more information about where they could best focus their efforts.

Finally, the “attend an event” section encourages partners to host a community event, and promotes other community events going on across the country.

The website also provides outreach materials including the Census 2020 logo and marketing materials for community members to apply to be census workers. Census 2020 does not give specific outreach ideas, but provides the resources for every community partner to do their own individualized outreach.

“The 2020 Census is underway right now in Alaska, and will start in the rest of the country in a few weeks,” members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee said in a statement announcing the release of the partners list by the Census Bureau. “The Government Accountability Office recently released a troubling report highlighting the Census Bureau’s insufficient progress in working with partners who are critical in educating the public—especially minority, immigrant, and rural communities.  We hope that sharing this list of community partners with our fellow Members of Congress will help ensure a fair, accurate, and complete count across all districts.”

Senator Myrie, Assemblymember Richardson, and volunteers (photo: Vashon Hill Jr.)

Predominantly black communities often have among the lowest response rates to the U.S. Census, the once-a-decade count of the country’s population mandated by the Constitution. In New York City, those and other hard-to-count groups contributed to an especially low response rate in 2010, which can hurt New York’s ability to bring in federal funding, among other important negative consequences, like loss of congressional representation.

With some differences, the New York City and State governments appear to be taking the 2020 Census quite seriously, attempting to ensure a full count even as there have been many questions about how the U.S. Census Bureau and broader Trump administration are approaching the decennial count.

New York City officials recently held a briefing with representatives of “black media” in the city in an effort to work toward getting out word about the census in black communities, in part to build trust in government efforts to obtain an accurate count, which will include mailings and, if needed, door-to-door visits to encourage participation. This will be the first census that is digital-first, meaning U.S. residents will be encouraged through an initial mailing -- set to start going out mid-March -- to fill their form out online.

The push for a complete census count includes efforts at the federal, state, and local levels, with different elected officials taking varied levels of interest.

On Saturday, two state legislators representing predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhoods organized a rally and canvassing to get the word out about the upcoming 2020 Census count, which officially begins April 1.

State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Diana Richardson, both Democrats representing central Brooklyn, joined together with staff and volunteers in what they called a “day of action” to raise awareness about the 2020 Census. They also coordinated the event with members of Brooklyn Community Board 9, which, like parts of Myrie’s and Richardson’s districts, includes neighborhoods like Brownsville, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Prospect Lefforts Gardens, East Flatbush, and Prospect Heights.

“This is the most important thing that will be happening in the next few weeks and we want to spread awareness, by getting out there and letting folks know about the census and its benefits,” Myrie said to those gathered at his district office on Nostrand Ave. for an initial discussion of the importance of the Census and the plan for the morning, before heading out to greet Brooklynites, discuss the Census, and pass out information on the upcoming count.

“We have to make sure that we get all our members involved because, without the census, we may be missing out on programs that will benefit our community including WIC and Head Start,” Richardson said to the packed room of volunteers.

Myrie’s office noted that 80 percent of Brooklynites live in hard-to-count neighborhoods, which include not only black communities, but also immigrant-rich communities and areas with high percentages of young children, for example. Saturday's canvas focused on particular areas of Myrie's Senate district in the neighborhoods of Prospect Lefferts Gardens and East Flatbush that have had among the lowest census participation rates in the country, as low as 50 percent in initial household self-response in some areas. Myrie said Saturday that Brooklyn Community Board 9 had an initial self-response rate of just 55% in 2010.

Myrie’s office reported that there were over 90 volunteers who came out to walk the streets and canvas, which included passing out information and knocking on more than 2,000 doors, Myrie tweeted. His office later told Gotham Gazette the Saturday effort hit roughly 2,345 doors and reached 708 people that day, with others potentially seeing the door-hangings that were left with census info on them.

“This has been incredibly exciting to see the turnout from the community to come out on a cold Saturday morning and to have the office packed out with dozens of volunteers,” Myrie said at the close of the day of action event. “It shows us just how important the census is. We are hitting a lot of doors and getting the information out to everyone.”

The handouts and door-hangings that the volunteers were equipped with stressed that the Census helps determine federal funding to neighborhoods for Medicaid, "housing, schools, Head Start, WIC, and other social services." They say to keep an eye out for the initial U.S. Census Bureau mailings in mid-March and stress that by law census information "cannot be shared with anyone, including ICE and law enforcement."

According to the results of the 2010 Census, Brooklyn -- with an estimated population of well over 2 million people -- had an initial household self-response rate of 67 percent, among the worst counties in the country. After census trackers assess those self-response rates by household, other efforts are made, including door-knocking and estimation, to try to get an accurate count. The 2010 census showed the county of Brooklyn (Kings County) to be 34.1% black; 30.4% white; 19.1% Hispanic/Latino; 12.7% Asian; and 1% Native American.

Note: This article has been updated to provide more clear language around self-response and the census counting process, and to reflect that the initial household self-response rate in Brooklyn in 2010 was 67%, not 55% as originally stated (55% was the self-response rate for community board 9 that Myrie cited). It has also been updated with additional information provided by Myrie's office.

Ben Max contributed to this article.

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

The week begins with news that New York has its first positive case of the new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, with a Manhattan resident infected, reportedly from a trip to Iran.

Governor Andrew Cuomo issued the following statement on Sunday evening:
"This evening we learned of the first positive case of novel coronavirus — or COVID-19 — in New York State. The patient, a woman in her late thirties, contracted the virus while traveling abroad in Iran, and is currently isolated in her home. The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving to New York. The positive test was confirmed by New York's Wadsworth Lab in Albany, underscoring the importance of the ability for our state to ensure efficient and rapid turnaround, and is exactly why I advocated for the approval from Vice President Pence that New York was granted just yesterday.

There is no cause for surprise -- this was expected. As I said from the beginning, it was a matter of when, not if there would be a positive case of novel coronavirus in New York. Last week I called for the Legislature to pass a $40 million emergency management authorization to confront this evolving situation -- I look forward to its swift passage. There is no reason for undue anxiety -- the general risk remains low in New York. We are diligently managing this situation and will continue to provide information as it becomes available."

Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio will hold a rare joint press conference on Monday morning from Cuomo's Manhattan office.

It will be another busy week in New York City and State politics, but the presidential campaign will also continue to hang over everything, with Democratic candidates continuing to drop out after the results in South Carolina, where Joe Biden won a convincing victory on Saturday, and ahead of “Super Tuesday,” where 14 states including California and Texas will vote for the nominee. Tom Steyer and Pete Buttigieg both announced the ends of their campaigns over the weekend.

While Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden appear to have all the momentum at this juncture, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Mike Bloomberg are hoping to make key headway on Tuesday. (Tulsi Gabbard also remains in the Democratic primary field.)

On Monday and Tuesday, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams will be in North Carolina campaigning for Sanders.

Closer to home, the week begins with the continued implementation of the state's plastic bag 'ban,' renewed attention on street safety after several recent pedestrian deaths, including two children in Brooklyn, ongoing discussion over changing the bail reform laws passed last year, and much more. Tuesday will mark just three weeks until the March 24 special elections for Queens Borough President and City Council District 37.

The City Council begins its examination of Mayor de Blasio’s $95.3 billion preliminary budget hearing on Monday, and throughout the week with committee hearings to follow the initial broad overview by the Council finance committee, Speaker Corey Johnson, de Blasio budget officials, and others that will take place Monday. Read our preview here.

The city’s property tax reform commission is holding its first public hearing since releasing its preliminary report of recommendations earlier this year -- see details below.

It’s also Civics Week and Open Data Week in New York City.

The State Legislature will be in session on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with less than a month to go before a new state budget is due (April 1), and discussions over changes to bail reform continuing, among many other issues, both fiscal and policy, on the table.

And there’s a lot more going on -- see our day-by-day rundown below.

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The run of the week in detail:

Monday, March 2
At 9:45 a.m. Monday, "Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo will hold a media availability on the first confirmed case of coronavirus in New York State...After, the Mayor will convene a second Coronavirus preparedness tabletop exercise with Deputy Mayors, Commissioners and leadership from across the Administration...In the evening, the Mayor will appear live on NY1's Inside City Hall with Errol Louis."

On Monday and Tuesday in Albany, the New York State Board of Regents will hold its monthly meetings.

The State Legislature will be in session on Monday in Albany.

At 8:30 a.m. Monday at William Cullen Bryant High School in Queens, “Chancellor Carranza will join Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson and the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) Director Omar Khan at a Student Voter Registration Drive to kick off Civics Week.”  At 6:30 p.m., Carranza “will attend a town hall meeting of District 24’s Community Education Council” in Queens.

At 10 a.m. Monday, the City Council’s Committee on Finance and Subcommittee on the Capital Budget will hold the initial Council hearing on Mayor de Blasio’s $95.3 billion preliminary budget plan. Council Speaker Corey Johnson will deliver opening remarks and likely ask questions of de Blasio budget officials. After de Blasio reps led by Budget Director Melanie Hartzog, City Comptroller Scott Stringer will testify before the Council, followed by the city’s Independent Budget Office, then members of the public. [Read: What to Expect When the City Council Begins Examining De Blasio’s $95.3B Budget Plan]

At 10:30 a.m. Monday in Manhattan, “immediately before the final public comment forum with the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) takes place, a group including over 120 health advocacy organizations will announce demands for changes to the MRT’s process. These organizations across the healthcare industry joined forces in a matter of days due to Governor Cuomo’s attempt to force $4 billion in cuts to the State’s Medicaid budget - $2.5 billion through the MRT and $1.5 billion through the counties.”

At 11 a.m. Monday in Binghamton, “New York Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy, joined by Senator Fred Akshar, Broome GOP Chairman Bijoy Datta and Binghamton residents, will call for a repeal of the state’s dangerous new bail and discovery laws at a press conference.”

At noon Monday at City Hall, “feminist leader Gloria Steinem and Council Member Helen Rosenthal will join sexual assault survivors and anti-rape advocates at City Hall to demand that Mayor de Blasio order NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea to remedy the understaffing, undertraining, and underprioritizing of the NYPD’s Special Victims Division.”

At noon Monday, "Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Makes an Announcement at Women's History Month Press Conference" at the Capitol in Albany. At 3:15 p.m., "Hochul Reads to Students as Part of Read Across America Day" at the Boys & Girls Club of Albany. And at 5:30 p.m., "Hochul Attends the NYS Farm Bureau Taste of New York Reception" at the Empire State Convention Center in Albany.

At 12 p.m. Monday, workers of various industries will rally outside Governor Cuomo’s Manhattan office to demand that he support the Securing Wages Earned Against Theft (SWEAT) bill that the state Legislature passed last year.

At 3 p.m. Monday in New York City, "New York State's Energy Planning Board will hold a public hearing on updating State Energy Plan targets to reflect New York’s nation-leading Climate commitments."

At 6 p.m. Monday in Albany, Eleanor’s Legacy will hold “Who Run the World? NYWomxn” at the Cornerstone at the Plaza to celebrate “New York womxn throughout history who led the way, and those who carry on the legacy of change.”

At 6 p.m. Monday, research companies DataKind and AidData will hold a showcase titled “Using Open Data to Empower Mission-Driven Organizations” at Civic Hall in Manhattan as part of New York City’s Open Data Week.

At 7 p.m. Monday, the Museum of the City of New York will host a discussion titled “Do Monuments Matter? Reimagining Their Role in a Changing World”. The event aims to “reframe the ‘monument’ in contemporary society and explore the role communities play in decision-making about past and future sites.” Speakers include sculptor Vinnie Bagwell, MIT Professor Mark Jarzombek, and executive director of The Chinati Foundation Jenny Moore. The event will be moderated by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professor Erica Avrami.

Tuesday, March 3
Tuesday is “Super Tuesday” in the presidential primary, where 14 states will vote for the Democratic nominee amid a winnowing field.

The Board of Regents’ monthly meetings will continue Tuesday in Albany.

The State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.

At 10 a.m. Tuesday in Albany, the Senate Standing Committee on Elections will hold a public hearing “to solicit views of interested parties in the New York Voting Rights Act.”

At the City Council Tuesday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Higher Education will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 11 a.m., the Committee on Land Use will meet to consider several land use applications in all five boroughs.
--At 1 p.m. the Committees on Technology and Land Use will hold a joint preliminary budget hearing.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday in Albany, "pursuant to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation hereby give notice of the first meeting of the Climate Action Council at New York State Department of Environmental Conservation."

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the GovLab and Reaktor will jointly host an event titled “Defining the Questions That Matter...and Could Be Answered with Open Data” as part of Open Data Week. Inspired by “The 100 Questions” global initiative, the event will begin with “a panel of leaders from different sectors reflecting on the need for more question-driven open data delivery.” Afterwards, participants will “collectively ideate and co-design a question-sourcing effort that can benefit all New Yorkers: The 100 Questions NYC.” Panelists include Citisense CEO Starling Childs; Cuebiq program director Brennan Lake; Reboot co-founder and executive director Panthea Lee; and Adrienne Schmoeker, New York City Mayor's Office of Data Analytics. The panel will be moderated by the GovLab’s Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer Stefaan Verhulst.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, a public workshop on the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) streetcar will be held by the New York City Economic Development Corporation in Williamsburg.

Wednesday, March 4
The State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli willl speak at the New York City Workforce Funders quarterly meeting. The meeting will bring together “leading workforce development and disability inclusion organizations to highlight promising partnerships that advance economic equality for New Yorkers with disabilities.”

At the City Council Wednesday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Environmental Protection will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Public Safety will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management will hold a preliminary budget hearing.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the New York Urban Land Institute’s Young Leaders Group will present a panel titled "Checking in on New York’s Growing Life Sciences Scene." Attendees will learn about “the investments that have been made in life sciences infrastructure & lab space across New York City” and “hear how industry heavyweights and successful start-ups are working to grow New York’s emerging life sciences industry.”

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the New York City Bar Association will present a panel titled "Incarceration and Detention: Examining the Mass Incarceration and Detention Privatization Movement and Implications for the Public's Health."

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, TransitCenter will hold a discussion titled “What Can Bus Operators Teach Us?” with transit workers and union leaders. Attendees will learn about the unique challenges of being a bus operator and what transit agencies can do to improve job quality in the midst of a nationwide transit operator shortage. Panelists include Dawn Distler, Executive Director at Akron Metro RTA; Keisha Farrell, Inreach Coordinator at Maryland Transit Administration; J.P. Patafio, Vice President at Transit Workers Union Local 100; and Nathan Vass, author of The Lines that Make Us and bus operator at King County Metro. The discussion will be moderated by Chris Van Eyken, Senior Program Associate at TransitCenter.

Thursday, March 5
At the City Council Thursday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Housing and Buildings will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 2 p.m., the Committee on Veterans will hold a preliminary budget hearing.

At 4 p.m. Thursday, the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York will host a workshop titled “Mapping Community Needs and Resources in New York City” as part of Open Data Week. The workshop will address topics such as “what types of institutions are needed for communities to thrive” how New Yorkers can “develop an asset-based approach to addressing specific community needs.”

At 4 p.m. Thursday, the Sustainability in the Urban Environment graduate program at the City College of New York will hold a seminar titled “Sustainability Uses of NYC Data” as part of Open Data Week. Participants can learn “from City Agency representatives about how NYC Open Data is collected, shared, and mobilized toward sustainability goals in New York. A panel of representatives from the Citywide Open Data, the Parks Department, and the Department of Environmental Protection will cover how to use Open Data, how they collect data, what is available, and how they use it toward implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies around the City.”

“The New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform announced that the first hearing following the release of its Preliminary Report will take place on Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 PM at the Petrides School Auditorium (C-Building) at 715 Ocean Terrace on Staten Island.”

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Brooklyn Law School will hold an Open Data Legal Forum as part of Open Data Week. The forum will first introduce “open legal data and review exciting efforts to open data in law and policy contexts.”

Friday, March 6 & the weekend
At the City Council Friday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Aging will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 12 p.m., the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 2 p.m., the Committee on Small Businesses will hold a preliminary budget hearing.
--At 3:30 p.m., the Committee on Immigration will hold a preliminary budget hearing.

Mayor de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC at 10 a.m. Friday.

At 10 a.m. Friday, Congressman Gregory Meeks will lead a Congressional Field Hearing on “modern-day redlining: the burden of underbanked and excluded communities in New York” at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center. Topics of discussion include “large banking deserts in low-and moderate-income communities and communities of color, the Community Reinvestment Act, redlining and the Newsday report on Long Island.”

At 9 a.m. Saturday, BetaNYC and the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics will close out Open Data Week with the annual NYC School of Data Conference.

At 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Albany, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will host the SOMOS 2020 Chairwoman’s Reception at the Times Union Center.

***
Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

***
by Ben Max
@GothamGazette

(l-r) Henry Munoz, Chris Coffey, Aaron Mendelsohn, Tristian Thomas-Allen, Antonio Reynoso, Ana Maria Archila, Ben Max, Jarrett Murphy

February 26, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Supporters of Democratic Presidential Candidates Make Their Case

It was a very lively discussion as the presidential primary heats up. Max & Murphy hosted a special live show panel discussion with supporters of six major Democratic presidential candidates: Antonio Reynoso for Warren; Ana Maria Archila for Sanders; Aaron Mendelsohn for Klobuchar; Chris Coffey for Bloomberg; Tristian Thomas-Allen for Buttigieg; and Henry Munoz III for Biden.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts, under "Max & Murphy," and listen to Max & Murphy live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WBAI radio, 99.5FM or wbai.org.

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

After his win in Nevada over the weekend, many eyes in the New York political world and beyond are on a surging Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and questions around whether his nomination is becoming all-but-certain. Another Democratic primary debate is set for Tuesday night in South Carolina, just ahead of that state’s primary on Saturday. Michael Bloomberg will surely be looking for a stronger performance than he had in Nevada this past week, even though he still won’t be on the ballot yet. Bloomberg starts to appear on ballots for Super Tuesday, which is the series of states that will vote on March 3, results that will give a much more clear picture of whether Sanders is really cruising or if the contest will be more competitive.

Not only is Bloomberg hoping to slow Sanders down, but Joe Biden is hoping for a win in South Carolina to reenergize his campaign and Elizabeth Warren is hoping that South Carolina then Super Tuesday give her the boost her Nevada debate performance may have portended, especially considering her jolt in fundraising and polling since she had that big night attacking Bloomberg and other rivals, though she mostly stayed away from Sanders.

Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar likely know that how they fare in South Carolina, the first state to vote that has a sizeable black population, will be heavily scrutinized and that if they continue on to Super Tuesday they will need to show real results, which is of course true for all the candidates, though Sanders’ strength at this point means he has some room for faltering. Another wrinkle as the race moves to South Carolina: Tom Steyer will return to the debate stage Tuesday night and he's polling fairly well in the state, where he's spent a lot of money and time. Steyer finished fairly well in Nevada and his ability to pull votes in South Carolina could continue to impact the race.

It remains to be seen whether Mayor Bill de Blasio will be of use to Sanders in South Carolina or on national TV leading up to the primary -- it was a state de Blasio spent significant time in during his short-lived presidential campaign last year. De Blasio made waves this weekend by tweeting some especially pointed attacks on Buttigieg after Buttigieg criticized Sanders during his remarks on the Nevada results and path ahead.

Meanwhile, it promises to be a very busy last week of February in New York politics and government. The City Council has many committee hearings and a Stated Meeting where new bills are introduced and bills that have passed committee are voted through by the full Council.

After its usual mid-February break the State Legislature is back in Albany for four session days. There’s just over a month until a new state budget is due.

There are also a wide variety of interesting and important other hearings, panel discussions, and other such events this week -- see our day-by-day rundown below.

And there will be significant attention this week on the fact that the Trump administration’s new “public charge” rules go into effect and that New York’s new plastic bag ‘ban’ (of sorts) goes into effect on Sunday, March 1.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
e-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in detail:

Monday, February 24
Mayor de Blasio will make his weekly appearance on NY1's Inside City Hall in the 7 and 11 p.m. hours Monday.

Governor Cuomo will make an announcement at 12:45 p.m. from the state Capitol in Albany.

The State Legislature is in session Monday afternoon in Albany.

At 10 a.m. Monday, "Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Announces Upstate Workforce Development Initiative Awards Funding" at Foodlink in Rochester. At 1 p.m. Hochul will make another such announcement at Time Release Sciences in Buffalo.

At 8:30 a.m., the New York City Bar Association will host the New York State Environmental Year in Review, evaluating the most significant developments New York State and New York City environmental law. Speakers will cover “New York State's Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act and New York City's Climate Mobilization Act and Local Law 97,” as well as “New York State environmental regulatory and litigation updates.” Speakers include Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice at the Mayor's Office of Climate Policy Adriana Espinoza, among several other experts.

At 9 a.m. Monday, Council Members Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson will be “joined by tenants, advocates, lawyers, and the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition (RTCNYC) at a rally on the steps of City Hall to support two bills that would expand the overwhelming successful Right to Counsel law passed in 2017.”

At the City Council Monday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Oversight and Investigations will hold an oversight hearing on the Department of Investigation’s backlog of background investigations.
--At 10 a.m., the Committees on Justice System and Housing and Buildings will meet jointly to hear two bills sponsored by Council Member Mark Levine on the “Implementation and Expansion of Right to Counsel in Housing Court.” The first bill would “require the Office of the Civil Justice Coordinator to expand the scope of right to counsel for all tenants making under 400% of the federal poverty guidelines, including any proceeding where ejection, eviction or terminance of residency may result.” The second bill would “require the office of the civil justice coordinator to collaborate with community groups in engaging and educating tenants of their rights in housing court, and then report on their efforts.”
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Hospitals will hold an oversight hearing on the “safety of New York City Emergency Departments.”
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Emergency and Fire Management will hear a bill sponsored by committee chair Joe Borelli that would “require the Fire Department to implement a pilot program for the use of electric scooters by personnel delivering emergency medical services.”
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Cultural Affairs will hold an oversight hearing on "Creating a NYC museum of African American history."
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction will hear bills sponsored by Council Members Laurie Cumbo and Ritchie Torres. The Cumbo bill would authorize “the creation of a mental health coordinator in each city agency to assist and perform outreach to city employees with mental health need.” The Torres bill would require “the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to develop a list of all free behavioral health services and share the information with any City agency that provides direct services to young adults, families, and children. DOHMH would also be required to train the identified agencies on appropriate dissemination of the information and ensure that the developed list would be available on the appropriate agencies’ websites.”

On Monday beginning at 8:30 a.m., the MTA Board will hold its monthly committee meetings.

On Monday at 11 a.m., “the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) will host a media roundtable with New York City and State officials, advocacy organizations, and local immigration legal experts to discuss and answer questions about the public charge rule. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it will begin implementing its public charge rule on February 24, 2020, except in Illinois where it is still blocked. This follows a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 27, 2020, which permitted the rule to go into effect while lawsuits continue. While the public charge rule may prevent some immigrants from getting lawful permanent resident status (green card) or a visa if they use certain public benefits or are deemed likely to use them in the future, legal experts will explain that many immigrants are NOT impacted by the public charge rule. Public charge does NOT apply to all immigrants, and it is NOT a factor if you are applying for citizenship. Additionally, the public charge rule does NOT change eligibility requirements for public benefits or access to health care services. The City’s new NYC Care program and many types of health coverage are NOT considered in the public charge rule. City and State officials, along with advocacy organizations, will discuss what is being done to provide free legal services for immigrant families so they may seek legal help if they have concerns about public charge. New Yorkers who have questions about immigration and public benefits can get help making the best decisions for themselves and their families by calling the free, confidential ActionNYC hotline at 1-800-354-0365 and saying “public charge.””

At 3 p.m. Monday in Albany, "On behalf of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., NYGOP Chairman Nick Langworthy will deliver the necessary paperwork to appear on the New York ballot this November."

At 6:30 p.m. Monday in Brooklyn, “U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) will deliver his annual State of the District address. He will discuss the Democratic agenda for America, which includes lowering healthcare costs and fighting for more affordable housing,” at Long Island University.

Tuesday, February 25
The State Legislature is in session Tuesday in Albany.

At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Workers Circle will host New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams as part of its ongoing “Breakfast with Champions” series, where he will “talk about his work addressing immigrant and worker rights, federal actions that impact New York City, and other key issues.”

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, the Regional Plan Association will “release its second report with ‘Make the Road New York’ on equitable adaptation in Central Queens.” Guests can “join RPA staff for a discussion around the key recommendations and findings of the report as well as the next steps.”

At the City Council Tuesday:
--At 9:45 a.m., the Committee on Women and Gender Equity will meet on a bill related to "Reporting on efforts to prevent and address sex- and gender-based discrimination and harassment."
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Public Safety will meet on a bill sponsored by Council Member Mark Treyger on “individualized responses to hate crimes” from the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes.
--At 10 a.m., the Committees on Small Businesses and on Technology will hold a joint oversight hearing on “cybersecurity for small businesses.”
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Transportation will hold an oversight hearing on “the future of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.”
--At 10:30 a.m., the Committee on Environmental Protection will hear bills sponsored by Council Members Donovan Richards and Costa Constantinides. The Richards bill “mandates that preliminary budget accounting and executive budget accounting include an accounting of the carbon emissions, carbon offsets, carbon mitigation and net carbon impact that would be generated by each unit of appropriation in the preliminary budget, by each agency, and by the entire city government and include, where appropriate, the changes from the adopted budget for previous year to the carbon emissions, carbon offsets, carbon mitigation and net carbon impact that would be generated by each unit of appropriation in the preliminary budget, by each agency, and by the entire city government with an explanation of the cause of such changes.” The Constantinides bill requires “that the office of long-term planning and sustainability, or such other agency or office as the mayor shall designate, develop for each city agency and each affiliated governmental organization a climate emission plan projection designed to assure that each city agency and each affiliated governmental organization remains below the upper level of greenhouse gas emissions needed to achieve the city’s previously identified climate reduction goals.”
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections will meet to consider Mayor de Blasio’s two appointments to the Conflicts of Interest Board, Wayne Hawley and Nisha Agarwal.
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Economic Development will hold an oversight hearing on “borough-by-borough projects” being led by the city’s Economic Development Corporation, including “Jamaica NOW, Bronx Point, Manhattan Life Sciences Campus, Bedford Union Armory & Stapleton Waterfront.”

At 10 a.m. Tuesday in Albany, the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources will hold a public hearing “to examine the effectiveness of current flooding emergency and mitigation efforts, and to discuss the need for future assistance due to the increase in extreme weather events.”

At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Albany, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics will hold a general meeting.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Speaker Corey Johnson and the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus of the New York City Council will host the annual Black History Month celebration in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday in Lockport, the New York Civil Liberties Union will hold a town hall “to discuss the impact that [facial] surveillance technology has on students in the Lockport City School District.” The event is part of a series of town halls taking place across New York State.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a public meeting on climate and transportation. The department will “provide an update on the Transportation and Climate Initiative Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to implement a regional cap and invest program to transition to a more sustainable, resilient, low carbon transportation sector.”

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Transportation will hold a public workshop in Astoria to discuss the progress of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector project. This workshop will “will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn about and discuss the BQX planning work that’s been done to date, and the process moving forward.”

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Museum of the City of New York will host a talk titled “Puerto Rican Activism: New York, San Juan and Beyond.” The event will focus on the Young Lords Party’s influence on Puerto Rican activism, both on the island and in the diasporic communities of New York City. Speakers include Johanna Fernández, author of the forthcoming book, Young Lords: A Radical History; researcher Pablo Benson-Silva; filmmaker, writer, and scholar Frances Negrón-Muntaner; and Monxo López, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Museum of the City of New York.

Wednesday, February 26
The State Legislature is in session Wednesday in Albany.

At 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Albany, State Senate Democratic Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins will join Times Union editor Casey Seiler at the Hearst Media Center “to discuss the state budget negotiation and what comes after - including the fight to maintain or even expand the Democratic majority in November.”

The MTA Board will hold its monthly Board meeting on Wednesday.

At the City Council Wednesday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Higher Education will hold an oversight hearing on the “research foundation of CUNY.”
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on General Welfare will hear four bills sponsored by committee chair Stephen Levin, including two related to the pets of those who enter city homeless shelters, one that would require DHS to “provide case management services to everyone assessed by either DHS or by an organization that contracts with the City, who is reasonably believed to be living on the street”; and one that “would set 30 days as the maximum time that the DSS/Human Resources Administration may require a street homeless applicant to have received case management services to be eligible for certain rental assistance programs.”
--At 10 a.m., the Subcommittee on Zonings and Franchises will meet to consider several land use applications.
--At 11 a.m., the Committee on Health will vote on two resolutions sponsored by Council Members Daniel Dromm and I. Daneek Miller that relate to sickle cell disease.
--At 11:30 a.m., the Committee on Housing and Builds will meet on a bill sponsored by Council Member Robert Cornegy related to construction and the energy code.
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Parks and Recreation will hold an oversight hearing to “examine the Parks Department’s Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) Program.”
--At 1 p.m., the Committee on Education will hold an oversight hearing to gauge the “experience of New Yorkers enrolled in adult education and adult literacy programs.” The Committee will also hear a resolution sponsored by Council Member Daniel Dromm that would “establish Diwali as an official holiday for NYC public school students.”
--At 1 p.m., the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions will meet to consider several land use applications.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, this week’s Max & Murphy show will air live on WBAI radio, 99.5FM and wbai.org, and feature a live panel event discussion about the Democratic presidential primary including supporters of several major candidates. The live event begins at 4:30 p.m. at Commons Cafe, 388 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn -- details and RSVP here.

At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the New York State Board of Regents will continue to hold a series of regional meetings “to review the State’s high school graduation measures and reaffirm what it means to obtain a diploma in New York State.” This time at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn and hosted by Regent Kathleen Cashin.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the city’s Panel for Educational Policy will hold a general meeting at MS131 in Manhattan. Agenda topics include proposals for “significant changes in school utilization” and “proposed amendments to Chancellor Richard Carranza’s Regulation D-150.”

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will host “Black History’s Next Chapter: Impacting Our Communities.” Asha Boston, founder of media literacy nonprofit The Dinner Table, will serve as the keynote speaker.

Thursday, February 27
The State Legislature is in session Thursday in Albany.

The New York State Board of Regents will continue to hold a series of regional meetings “to review the State’s high school graduation measures and reaffirm what it means to obtain a diploma in New York State.” Four meetings are taking place Thursday, including two in Brooklyn, one in Buffalo, and one in Syracuse.

At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute will hold a forum titled “Food Equity Research in New York: Fresh Perspectives.” Discussion topics “include the food justice movement in New York, racial disparities in the urban food system, the role and limitations of government-sponsored nutrition assistance programs in addressing hunger, and labor in the city’s food economy.”

At the City Council Thursday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Oversight and Investigations will hear a bill sponsored by Council Member Ritchie Torres to require the “Department of Investigations and the special commissioner of investigation to create web applications to track agency cooperation and compliance with investigations and recommendations.”
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Finance will hear bills sponsored by Council Members Antonio Reynoso and Daniel Dromm that would, respectively,l “create a position of a not-for-profit ombudsperson within the Department of Finance (DOF)” and create several “exemptions from the sale of tax liens” and “[approve] the new designation and changes in the designation of certain organizations to receive funding in the Expense Budget.”
--At 1:30 p.m., there will be a City Council Stated Meeting to pass and introduce legislation. Speaker Corey Johnson will host the usual pre-Stated press conference at 12:30 p.m.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the Association for a Better New York will hold a Census 101 panel discussion at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the Association for a Better New York will hold an installment of their “What’s on Tap?” series with New York City Council Member and Chair of the Land Use Committee Rafael Salamanca Jr. at the Ainsworth in the Financial District. Salamanca will “discuss his path to office, experiences in government, and vision for New York City” and take questions from the audience.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Queens Council Members Donovan Richards, Adrienne Adams, I. Daneek Miller, and Rory Lancman will hold a Public Safety Town Hall with NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. Commissioner Shea will address comments and concerns about public safety from members of the community.

Friday, February 28 & the weekend (It's a Leap Year!)
At the City Council Friday:
--At 10 a.m., the Committee on Education will hold an oversight hearing on class size reduction.
--At 10 a.m., the Committees on Hospitals and Immigration will meet jointly to hear a resolution sponsored by Council Member Carlos Menchaca on “combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act of 2019.”

At 10 a.m. Friday, the Senate Standing Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development and the Senate Standing Committee on Social Services will hold a joint public hearing “to examine issues related to homelessness, housing insecurity and affordable housing, and identify potential legislative remedies.”

Mayor de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC at 10 a.m. Friday.

At 6 p.m. Friday, City Council Member Farah N. Louis will host “Unapologetically Black,” a gathering to celebrate the conclusion of Black History Month.

At 2 p.m. Saturday, the Manhattan delegation of State Senate Democrats will hold a State Budget Forum at the New York Academy of Medicine. Residents are invited to share their opinions on budget priorities with their legislators before the 2020-2021 budget passes on April 1st. State Senators Liz Krueger, Brad Hoylman, Robert Jackson, Brian Kavanagh, and Jose Serrano will be in attendance.

The state’s ban on many types of carryout plastic bags goes into effect on Sunday, March 1.

***
Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

***
by Ben Max & Claire Del Sorbo
@GothamGazette

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

In response to several trends, including low voter turnout and civic knowledge, the past few years have seen a sporadic push for stronger civics education in New York and beyond.

In the spring of 2018, New York City launched a ”Civics For All” Initiative, which “provides resources, programming, and professional learning to all NYC schools. The initiative focuses on education models that are interactive, project-based, and relevant to students’ lives,” according to the Department of Education. 

That same year, the New York State Education Department created the Civics Readiness Task Force, composed of 33 members from across the state, in an effort to determine how best to include civics education in school curriculum. According to the task force website, one goal is for students to “demonstrat[e] mastery in civics knowledge and participation in the civics process.” The task force came up with three recommendations, unveiled last month, including to come to a definition for civic readiness.

Meanwhile in Rhode Island students are suing the state board of education for denying them sufficient civics education. The lawyer representing the students said that they have the “constitutional rights to a robust civics education” and that Rhode Island is “failing its students by not instructing them in the values needed to participate in a democratic society,” as reported by the Providence Journal.

New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, a Brooklyn Democrat, introduced a bill (S3951) about a year ago, in February 2019, that would establish a civic education fund, money from which would be used by localities to contract with “community-based organizations, non-profits and other non-traditional organizations to implement civic education projects including, but not limited to, mock trials, debate forums, voter registration activities, and projects that demonstrate  an understanding of the connections between federal, state and local politics including issues that may impact the students’ community.”

The bill subsequently passed both the Senate and the Assembly, where its lead sponsor is Democratic Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon of Brooklyn, before it was vetoed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on December 13.

Cuomo’s veto memo explained that because it has a financial component it should be included in the state budget -- the bill had no specification for its fiscal implications, only saying they are “to be determined.” The bill was set to go into effect immediately upon its adoption.

“There is a civic education movement brewing across the country. In response to the recent political divide, rhetoric and lack of civic participation, educators, academics, community institutions, non-profits, and local governments, have banned together to implement civic education for students using a simulation-based approach,” the justification text of the bill reads.

DeNora Getachew, who heads the New York City branch of nonprofit Generation Citizen, which leads civic education programming in schools across the country, says that ensuring young people have the foundation and the skills to become informed voters is essential.

“We don’t put drivers on the street without making them take driver’s ed and actually passing a test, right? Why are we treating this any different?” Gretachew said.

Simon said that she, Montgomery, and others “really feel civics education hasn’t been happening in our schools” and pushing bills like this, that encourage civic learning and engagement, are important to the state’s future.

According to Simon, she and Montgomery are working on a new version of the civic education fund legislation and other bills to help encourage civic participation in New York schools.

Montgomery announced in January that she will not be seeking reelection this year and is retiring after a 35-year career in public service. It’s unclear if she’ll make a push for the civics education fund legislation in her final session, especially before the next state budget is due April 1. Montgomery’s office did not respond to several requests for comment for this story.

What Simon likes about the civic education fund is that it is a simple way to address the problem and provide New Yorkers with greater access to civic education. Money from the civic education fund would go toward local contracting with organizations like Generation Citizen, which currently works through the New York City Department of Education and individual city schools.

Getachew believes that while the fund is a great idea that could help with smaller projects from community organizations, to really teach students civics, a huge investment needs to be made in professional development for teachers. She cited a recent Massachusetts law as a good example of a comprehensive bill that establishes a fund for civic education.

In late 2018, Massachusetts passed the bill, called “an act to promote and enhance civic engagement”, which mandates civic education in schools and establishes a Civics Project Trust Fund to “assist Massachusetts communities with implementing history and civics education state requirements.”

The law says that “in all public schools, history of the United States of America and social science, including civics, shall be taught as required subjects to promote civic service and a greater knowledge thereof and to prepare students, morally and intellectually, for the duties of citizenship.” It mandates that eighth-grade students undertake a civics project that is consistent with the curriculum - in a sense, the law mandates the kind of “action civics” work that organizations like Generation Citizen lead in schools. (Massachusetts is another of the six states where Generation Citizen currently operates. In testimony given on the New York State education budget last week, Generation Citizen said it is working with 6,175 New York students and with educators in 247 classrooms across 70 schools statewide.)

The Massachusetts law includes funding for teachers to learn. “The Department of Elementary and Secondary education shall provide professional development opportunities for educators on the history and social science framework,” it reads.

Massachusetts Education Secretary James Peyser said in a press release, “civics education is about both learning and doing, and effective civic engagement is not simply about advocacy or action, it’s about listening, questioning, respectful dialogue, and compromise.”

This bill, along with Project Soapbox, a public speaking competition, and the Judicially Speaking Program, a Colorado-based initiative that “uses experiential learning to demonstrate the role of the judiciary in the American legal system,” were cited as part of the justification for the establishment of a civic education fund in New York.

Assemblymember Simon said that over the last decade there has been a push to encourage civics education in New York schools and “it’s not going away.” She emphasized that she will continue to push for civic education legislation going forward during this legislative session.

Currently, to graduate, students in New York State are required to get credit for a “participation in government” course. This requirement includes teaching students about current events, and a component of it has to be experiential in nature, according to Getachew.

“The reality is teachers aren't being taught how to teach students that. So what ended up happening in most participation in government classes is the teachers bring in the news and then maybe they invite in a speaker or two and that's it,” Getachew said.

The Civic Readiness Task Force empaneled by the State Education Department is looking to fill the gap in New York. Getachew is also a member of the task force, and said she is proud of the recommendations it just put forth.

They were presented to the New York Board of Regents in January. The first of the task force’s three recommendations is defining civic readiness, meaning clarity of what students should gain out of the work of civic education and engagement, which would then help in the design of that work. Getachew said that by defining civic readiness, New York State can become a “vanguard” for other states to follow.

Second, the task force recommends creating the criteria for a new “Seal of Civic Readiness,” a classification that students can achieve and get credit for on their diploma.

The final recommendation is a capstone project, urging students to explore a topic of their choice. Getachew explained that such an idea is grounded in social studies primarily, but ultimately should be interdisciplinary, allowing schools tol “ensure that all students have the knowledge, the skills, the dispositions, the actions and experiences to participate in democracy long term.”

The task force’s proposed next steps include seeking feedback from stakeholders, creating a manual for relevant professional development, creating the Seal of Civic Readiness, and returning to the Board of Regents for approval in Spring 2020.

The task force also presented two ideas for future action, including creating a statewide survey to collect data on effective civic engagement strategies one year after implementation and exploring criteria for a recognition system for schools that engage in civic readiness.

The task force’s mission statement is to “Encourage students to believe in the power of their own voices and actions. Equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to engage responsibly in our culturally diverse democracy. Empower students to make informed decisions to enhance our interconnected world.”

(photo: Edward Reed/City Council)

February 19, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Reckoning with Bloomberg's Record

With former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cannonballing into the presidential race, two veteran journalists and experts on Bloomberg -- Bob Hardt of NY1 and Eleanor Randolph, author of The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg -- joined the show to discuss the former mayor's record and his run. They shared their perspectives on Bloomberg's three terms as mayor, his political philosophy, management style, and much more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts, under "Max & Murphy," and listen to Max & Murphy live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WBAI radio, 99.5FM or wbai.org.

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

The week begins with a holiday and Mayor Bill de Blasio flying back from Nevada, where he was campaigning on behalf of Bernie Sanders for president after endorsing the Vermont senator. After a tortured 2016 process that led to a humiliating endorsement of Hillary Clinton in that year’s Democratic primary over Sanders, de Blasio attempted his own run for president this time around, quickly bowing out of the race after entering it late, and is now behind Sanders after the senator’s strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, and just ahead of the Nevada caucuses this coming weekend.

One way in which de Blasio appears ready to be a forceful Sanders validator is as a critic of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who recently cannonballed into the Democratic presidential primary, seemingly in part because of his dislike for Sanders’ agenda. De Blasio is already taking Bloombeg to task on the campaign trail over stop-and-frisk, the policing tactic that exploded under Bloomberg until a judge ruled the NYPD was unconstitutionally using it to stop hundreds of thousands of mostly young men of color. It became a major focus of de Blasio's succesful 2013 campaign for mayor. Along with de Blasio, other New Yorkers continue paying attention to and participating in the presidential campaign (Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos was also in Nevada campaigning for Sanders this weekend, for example), and now especially given Bloomberg’s presence and renewed scrutiny of his record, as well as a number of New York supporters who have emerged for the former mayor, including, for example, Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks.

There is a Democratic primary debate on Wednesday night from Nevada before Saturday’s caucuses. On Tuesday a new poll showing him rising to second nationally behind Sanders meant that Bloomberg will be on the debate stage. (A week after Nevada’s caucuses, South Carolina will hold its February 29 primary, followed quickly by a variety of contests on March 3, known as Super Tuesday. Bloomberg won't be on the Nevada or South Carolina ballots because of his late entry into the race, but then he'll start appearing on Super Tuesday.)

As de Blasio returns to the city the major issue hanging over local politics continues to be the state budget picture and how Governor Andrew Cuomo is dealing with reining in runaway Medicaid spending. In some ways it will be a typically quiet mid-February week, however, given that schools are on break and that means coinciding breaks for both the City Council and the State Legislature, at least from most formal hearings. The Legislature just wrapped up several weeks of hearings on Cuomo’s budget proposal.

Speaking of which, 30-day amendments to that Cuomo budget plan are due. Cuomo has recently blown through other budget-related deadlines, and given that his Medicaid Redesign Team has just begun its work, it’s unclear what changes he may be able to offer in an updated budget plan, though he could account for the latest tax receipt info and other feedback.

The other dominant issue of the last several months is the ongoing debate over whether last year’s state bail reforms that fully went into effect on January 1 of this year need to be adjusted. This week will likely see continued discussion on that front, especially after last week included Senate Democrats floating a plan to change the bail law to fully eliminate cash bail but add judicial discretion around assessing suspects’ dangerousness, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, among others, denouncing the idea of changing the law so briefly into its implementation. Over the weekend, New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay published a column calling on lawmakers to stand firm on the bail changes until much more data is available, while encouraging members of law enforcement and others who have been critical of the new system to engage more on its merits instead of anecdotes and fear-mongering, and to collaborate on seeking better treatment for individuals suffering from mental illness.

Meanwhile, there are a variety of events happening in New York to be aware of -- see our day-by-day rundown below.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
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The run of the week in detail:

Monday, February 17
Monday is the celebration of Washington’s Birthday (aka Presidents Day).

Mayor de Blasio continues to campaign for Bernie Sanders for President on Monday in Nevada, before heading back to the city Monday evening. He will appear in his usual Monday evening segment on NY1’s Inside City Hall in the 7 and 11 p.m. hours.

At 8:45 a.m. Monday in Manhattan, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli will attend the Association of Towns of The State of New York’s 2020 Annual Meeting and Training School.

At 11 a.m. Monday, “Local elected officials and representatives from the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development (cfesdnyc.com) and the Municipal Arts Society will hail the victory over the developer of 200 Amsterdam, which cobbled together multiple zoning lots to achieve extra height for their building.” Participants include Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and several other Manhattan officials.

Tuesday, February 18
At 8 a.m. Tuesday, "Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Delivers Remarks at Association of Towns Annual Meeting" in Manhattan. At 1 p.m., "Hochul Announces Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative Project Funding in the Bronx."

At 10 a.m. Tuesday at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queens, elected officials and advocates will rally “to protect bail reform.” Participants will include City Council Member Danny Dromm, VOCAL-NY, and others.

At 10 a.m. Tuesday in White Plains, members of the Westchester State Senate Delegation will hold a New York State Budget Forum for community members, advocates, and other interested parties to share their opinions on the proposed 2020-2021 NYS budget. State Senators Jamaal T. Bailey, Alessandra Biaggi, David Carlucci, Peter Harckham, Shelley B. Mayer, and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins will be present.

At 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson will appear on Fox 5's Good Day New York. At 10:30 a.m., Johnson will appear on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show.

At 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice will host a discussion with Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who will discuss his “advocacy for immigration protections, quality health care, access to higher education,” and more. Professor John D. Gutierrez of the Department of Latin American and Latinx Studies will moderate.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mayor de Blasio "will appear live on MSNBC’s MTP Daily with Chuck Todd." At 9 p.m., "the Mayor will appear on PBS Frontline’s “Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos.”"

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams will hold a "bail reform community information session" in Harlem. "The Public Advocate will hold a community discussion of the recently enacted bail reform laws, answering the questions and concerns of New Yorkers with a panel of experts and advocacy organizations."

On Tuesday evening, City and State NY will hold its 2020 Education Power 100 reception, which will include “keynote remarks by Betty Rosa, Chancellor, New York State Department of Education and State Senator John Liu, Chairman of the New York City Education Committee.”

Wednesday, February 19
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, Crain’s New York Business will host a breakfast with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, where he will “discuss his proposal for mandatory paid vacation, the climate for real estate and major rezonings around the city, and his role as an activist-elected official.” After Williams delivers remarks, Crain’s’ Will Bredderman and Anna Sanders of the Daily News will ask the public advocate questions.

At 8 a.m. Wednesday, the Urban Land Institute of New York will hold a panel on the future of New York City’s airports. Panelists will “give an update on [Port Authority’s] megaprojects and delve into the history of them, how the deals came together, and their impacts on real estate in New York.” Keynote presentation will be given by Derek Utter, Chief Development Officer of The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. A panel discussion will include Gerrard P. Bushell, Executive Chair of JFK New Terminal One Development Project; Christina Callahan, Deputy General Manager of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey; and Thomas J. Grech, president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce; and professor Francisco X. Pineda of Columbia University will moderate.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing in Manhattan, dealing with matters including on the rezoning proposal for Industry City in Brooklyn.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, this week’s Max & Murphy show will air on WBAI radio, 99.5 FM and wbai.org, and will include a discussion of Michael Bloomberg’s record as mayor of New York City and his 2020 presidential campaign.

At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Office of Council Member Helen Rosenthal and the New York City Department of Buildings will host a town hall at B’Nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side. District 6 residents will be able to “hear from newly appointed DOB Commissioner Melanie La Rocca about the direction and priorities of the agency going forward,” and can “ask questions directly of the Commissioner, and meet one-on-one with DOB staff to address local building issues.”

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Century Foundation’s Bernard L. Schwartz Rediscovering Government Initiative will host “The Urgency of Action on Child Poverty,” at Henry Street Settlement in Manhattan. Speakers will “examine the devastating consequences of growing up poor and investigate which bold and targeted actions will make the most difference in ameliorating these devastating effects...[including] the ineffectual remnants of our social welfare system, entrenched racism, and an unmotivated government.”

Thursday, February 20
At 9 a.m. Thursday, City and State NY will hold its 2020 Diversity Summit, which “will offer industry executives, public sector leaders and academics a full-day conference dedicated to fostering business partnerships between the state and local government, prime contractors and minority and women-owned businesses (MWBEs).” Speakers include Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives J. Phillip Thompson; Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Lisette Camilo; Director of the Mayor’s Office of MWBEs Jonnel Doris; City Council Members Robert Cornegy and Ben Kallos; MTA Chief Diversity Officer Michael J. Garner, and others.

At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the directors of Empire State Development will meet.

At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will host a State of the Borough reception and give his 2020 State of the Borough Speech, at Veterans’ Memorial Hall in the Bronx.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, Civic Hall and the Minority Cannabis Business Association will hold a panel titled “Reparations Now: Black America and the War on Drugs.” The panel will address the potential benefits New York could stand to gain from legalizing recreational marijuana, as well as reckoning with the war on drugs’ legacy on black communities and what the state owes families torn apart by mass incarceration. Speakers include Lorenzo Jones, Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director at the Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice; Lawrence Grandpre, Director of Research for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle; and Imani Dawson, Executive Director at the Cannabis Education Advocacy Symposium and Expo.

Friday, February 21 & the weekend
At 10 a.m. Friday in Albany, the Senate Standing Committee on Civil Service and Pensions will hold a public hearing “to explore the idea of establishing a ‘civil service pipeline’ statewide in which graduating students are trained for and recruited directly into public sector jobs.”

Mayor de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show at 10 a.m. Friday.

At 9 a.m. Saturday, IGNITE and New American Leaders will host “Boss Ladies New York: Training the Next Generation of Campaign Leaders,” a half-day training seminar for aspiring campaign managers. Participants will “ earn how campaigns work at different levels of government, the role of a campaign manager, and how to run a successful campaign.” Speakers include Crystal Ann Berger, chief of staff to Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker; Felicia Singh, candidate for New York City Council District 32; and Ny Whitaker, political strategist and community leader. Amanda Faris, candidate for New York City Council District 6, will serve as a trainer at the seminar.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, the New York City Parks Department will hold an event for Black History Month titled “African American History of Staten Island” at Tappen Park. Urban park rangers “will provide historical information on points of interest that are focal points of the African-American story on Staten Island.”

At 11 a.m. Saturday, the New York City Parks Department will hold an event for Black History Month titled “Brooklyn and the Underground Railroad.” Urban park rangers will take visitors on a walking tour through Brooklyn Bridge Park while explaining the borough’s role in providing slaves with an escape from slavery.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie will present his first State of the District Address with an introduction Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Myrie, a Democrat representing Crown Heights and parts of Park Slope and Sunset Park, invites the community to “hear about the progress we’ve made so far and our agenda for the work ahead.”

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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

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by Ben Max & Claire Del Sorbo
@GothamGazette

State Senator Julia Salazar at a Census rally

The U.S. Census Bureau will soon kick off the 2020 Census count by sending mail to households to inform them about filling out a questionnaire that lists their names, where they live and how many people live with them, their race and ethnicity, and other information. Self-response to the Census yields the most accurate information about households and given that New Yorkers speak more than 200 languages, Brooklyn State Senator Julia Salazar wants to take steps to ensure that as many people are guided toward participation in the most effective way possible.

The Senate recently passed a bill sponsored by Salazar, a Democrat, that would direct the New York Department of State to expand access to translation services to state agencies and institutions that interact with the public.

This year, the Census will largely be carried out through digital methodology, with the Census Bureau encouraging people to fill out the questionnaire online. That is expected to pose a particular challenge in communities that lack access to high-speed internet and among those with a limited ability to navigate an online form. The Census Bureau will provide translation through print and video guides for 59 non-English languages, which fails to capture the linguistic diversity of New York’s population, home to many hard-to-count communities of immigrants and people who either cannot speak English or have limited English proficiency, among others where response rates are often especially low.

Salazar’s bill would extend the state resources to localities, mandating that the Department of State identify translation services and make them available to state agencies and municipalities. The department would have to make best efforts to publicize the services, through online notices and in collaboration with organizations that work with limited or non-proficient English speakers, and it would also have to submit a report on its efforts next year.

Separate from state government, New York City officials have taken steps to ensure their own outreach effort is robust, providing $19 million in grants to community-based organizations, many of which work with immigrants on the ground on a day-to-day basis. It’s an effort to ensure that the city surpasses it’s self-response rate of 62% in the last Census (which was 14 percentage points below the national average at the time). Another $3 million in city funds is going to advertising in community and ethnic media to reach the widest possible audience in the city.

The state’s efforts, on the other hand, have been fairly lethargic. Governor Andrew Cuomo has pledged a roughly $70-million effort, of which about $20 million is for direct grants to organizations viewed as “trusted voices” that can conduct outreach in hard-to-count communities with a low-self response rate. The grants have yet to be awarded, and the rest of the funding is chalked up to the value of yet-to-be-seen operational plans for state agencies to contribute to ensuring a complete count. It’s unclear what, if any, of the funding is earmarked for a multilingual media campaign.

Salazar’s bill would fill in some of the apparent gaps, though it does not seem to have a companion bill in the Assembly and time is of the essence given the count officially begins April 1. Salazar seems hopeful, however, that the issue will be taken up quickly in the other chamber, particularly since Cuomo backs it, she said. “The prospect is that Assembly will move it quickly since it’s urgent, non-controversial, and has the Governor’s support,” Salazar said, in a statement through a spokesperson.

In her remarks on the Senate floor when the bill was passed, Salazar spoke of the “urgency” of ensuring that the Census is accessible. “All of us should be concerned about potentially losing congressional seats in our state but especially those of us whose communities are already underrepresented,” she said. “The action we’re taking today is necessary, given that over 113,000 New Yorkers speak a language at home that the Census Bureau does not provide language support for. Today, we’re choosing to do everything we responsibly can to count those people and to count nearly a quarter of all New Yorkers who did not respond to the last census in 2010.”

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing this past week with representatives of the U.S. Census Bureau to examine preparedness for the 2020 Census. Data collection for the Census count has already begun in remote parts of Alaska, some initial mailings will go out mid-March, and the full count officially begins across the country on April 1.

Exchanges at the Wednesday hearing, along with a report released just before it that informed much of the discussion, raised red flags around hiring efforts, cybersecurity, and ensuring hard-to-count communities will be counted. 

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent congressional watchdog agency, released a report on Wednesday morning that highlighted four main concerns that formed the basis for questions of U.S. Census Bureau Director Dr. Stephen Dillingham and others at the hearing: recruiting, partnerships, IT systems implementation, and cybersecurity.

The constitutionally-mandated population count that attempts to identify every resident of the United States occurs once every ten years and determines a great deal, including representation in government and federal funding, while influencing many other decisions.

Members of the House committee, chaired by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York City, expressed concerns around ensuring traditionally-undercounted areas, including rural parts of the country and communities of color, are properly counted, and how the fact that for this census the internet is for the first time the main collection mode would disadvantage certain communities, and what would be done to overcome those challenges.

Along with Dillingham, the committee members questioned J. Christopher Mihm, managing director, strategic issues at the GAO; Nick Marinos, director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity at GAO; and Albert E. Fontenot Jr, associate director of the census programs. 

According to the GAO report, the Census Bureau has been behind on its personnel recruiting goals since September of last year, which could lead to problems when the bureau must start contacting people who don’t fill out the census during the initial “self-response” period. The report warns that “if the Bureau does not recruit sufficient individuals, it may have difficulty hiring enough staff to complete its upcoming operations within scheduled time frames.” 

In response to questions on that finding, Dillingham assured the committee that the bureau will be ready.

“The worst case scenario if our self-report rate drops to 55%, which no one expects, but if it did we would want 2.7 million people recruited, from which we would hire half a million people. The next scenario is 60.5%, which is probably the more reasoned scenario, in which case we would hire 320,000 people,” Dillingham said. “We will meet the worst scenario goal by the first week of March, and then we’re going to surpass it. There is no doubt. Right now we have about four applicants for every position”

Mihm expressed concerns that given the nature of the temporary workforce, the bureau can “bleed through the recruitment base rather quickly,” leaving it short staffed. Further, Mihm pointed out that while at a national level the numbers might look strong, the census is administered at a local level, making staffing at the Area Census Offices more concerning that 202 of 248 of the area offices “fell short of their individual recruiting targets as of February 2020”. 

“I think the big concern that we have operationally is that these numbers can be looking good at a top level, even though we haven’t met some interim goals, but the concern is the response rate,” Mihm said. “The 60.5% is what they’re hoping to achieve, but even with that, we still have 61 million households for follow up. You can bleed through a recruitment base very very quickly in hiring the enumerators.”

Rep. Harley Rouda (D-CA) asked the witnesses what they were doing for all the people in the United States that don’t speak English, as there are over 500 languages spoken in the country. Frontenot emphasized that during the hiring process the bureau tries to identify and hire people from specific local communities who also speak languages that proliferate in those areas. When Rouda probed further specifically about languages spoken in smaller numbers, such as Navajo and native Hawaiian, Dillingham said that “the primary way we are going to reach those demographics are by hiring people from those local communities.” 

“The national [hiring] figures are looking extremely good, and we are on track and on course with the national figures. But it is very important that we meet the needs of particular states and particular communities within those states,” Dillingham said. “If there are more recruitment efforts needed, we will make those efforts, we will advertise more, we can raise the pay rates in some instances.”

Applicants can apply for field or office positions in every state and Puerto Rico. Pay rates for the positions depend on the state; in Manhattan (New York County) the rates are $25-$28 per hour for office and “census taker” positions. In Bernalillo County, New Mexico, the rate is roughly $16 per hour. 

The committee members were also concerned with the number of partnerships that the Census Bureau has successfully made in local communities so far. The GAO report reads that “as of early February 2020, the Bureau had almost 240,000 community partners, such as businesses and nonprofits, in place. However, the Bureau has missed interim goals building towards its overall goal of 300,000 community partners by March 2020.”

According to the 2020 Census website, partners can participate in the census by attending events, identifying areas in their own communities for outreach and promotional efforts, and spreading the word about the census.

Mihm, during his opening statement, testified that the bureau had not met its interim goals of developing these community partnerships, which are important to ensuring a full count and without which there is a lower response rate to the census. 

“In the environment we are in now, the larger cultural environment is we need people to be encouraged to participate in the Census,” Mihm said. “This is what partnerships do, they are trusted voices in the community that can tell the community we need to participate, that it’s good for us, good for the community, and our data will be protected. That’s not something that can come out of Washington that has to come from trusted local voices. That’s the importance of local partnerships.”

The concern about local partnerships became a point of contention for many committee members. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) brought up that the committee had requested a list of all the partners in each congressional district so far, giving the Census Bureau a deadline of December 13, 2019. As of the hearing, such a list had not been provided to the congressional committee. Wasserman Schultz pointedly asked Dillingham if she would get the list by Friday. Dillingham said the list is in a review process. 

This list was brought up again by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), who asked Dillingham to ask the people who were attending the hearing if they could get the list as soon as possible. After nods from the audience, Dillingham said, “I think I’ve got a firm ‘yes’ for you.” 

Maloney mentioned the list of partnerships again in her closing remarks, calling the push for more information a strong “bipartisan exchange” and that the information is critically important to members of Congress to help get a complete count of their districts. Dillingham added at the end of the hearing that he “has been informed today during this hearing that we can make that list available” to Congress, although no specific date was specified.  

As of Thursday, February 13th, Wasserman Schultz tweeted “democracy works only if minority communities count in #Census2020. But the @USCensusBureau will not even share who it’s community partners are. @OversightDems @HouseDemocrats @HispanicCaucus @TheBlackCaucus @CAPAC demand transparency to ensure we reach hard-to-count communities.”

An inquiry by Gotham Gazette to the press staff for Maloney’s Oversight Committee about whether the list has been turned over has not been returned.

Over the last two years, a key point of contention about the 2020 Census has been the potential addition of a citizenship question, which was sought by the Trump administration but struck down in court. While it wasn’t the focus of the hearing it was mentioned a number of times. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) brought it up in his opening remarks, arguing that the Democrats focusing their attention on opposing the citizenship question pulled efforts from ensuring a successful census and that he “hopes today we can do away with the partisan theatrics and work together to make sure the census is complete.” 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked Dillingham a series of direct questions confirming that the citizenship question is not on the census, that census information cannot be shared with the Department of Homeland Security, and that it will not be used in immigration enforcement. Dillingham confirmed that all of those statements are true. 

Cybersecurity and implementation of the online version of the census were also focus issues at the hearing.

The GAO report says that the Census Bureau “continues to face significant cybersecurity challenges, including those related to addressing cybersecurity weaknesses in a timely manner, resolving cybersecurity recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and addressing numerous other cybersecurity concerns (such as protecting the privacy of respondent data).” The report is clear that the bureau has made steps to address these concerns, but that there is still work to be done. 

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) asked the witnesses to address the unsolved vulnerabilities that have not been addressed. The report identifies that “as of December 2019, 81 of the 191 (about 42 percent) total open “high” and “very high-risk” Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms) were delayed past their scheduled completion dates. Additionally, 50 of the 191 (about 26 percent) total open “high” and “very high-risk” POA&Ms were delayed 60 or more days.” 

Dillingham said the bureau has a “risk-management process to identify all our risks” and as they run continual tests on the system some are solved and others appear, but they are working their way through the list. Marinos added that the GAO appreciates how the bureau is responding to the risks but recommends that they do a better job at prioritizing the risks, beginning with those designated as high priority. 

It is the first time in census history that the primary mode of data collection will be online, with many U.S. residents initially receiving a mailing with instructions for how to complete the form digitally. One of the major concerns of committee members was if the computer system is robust enough to handle the number of people that will try to access it. Marinos said during his opening statement that the original system the census was operating had delays, so the bureau has completely moved to its secondary system that “would present a better customer experience and could handle the volume a little better,” and that they build the system to accommodate more people than they anticipate actually participating.   

The fact that the census is being rolled out digitally has caused concern about how rural and other communities with little or no broadband access will fare in participating in the count. The bureau representatives said there are three ways to fill out the census this year: by phone, internet, and paper. In communities that the bureau has identified as having limited internet access it is hiring larger numbers of enumerators to go door-to-door to engage respondents. Bureau reps also said it is instituting mobile questionnaire assistants who will do community outreach and be equipped to help people complete the census on paper or online. 

“We have these mobile assistants who can go out into these communities and they help with the collection of information, and we have partners in those communities, like the American Library Association, etcetera,” Dillingham said. “We will work with them and wherever they identify that need we can respond to that need, and that’s why we have these mobile resource capabilities.” 

The GAO report labelled the overall level of preparedness of the Census Bureau as “mixed” and the hearing indicated that is the case, but with officials assuring members of Congress that the bureau will meet its goals.