Sponsors (2)
The bill increases individual choice, privacy, and explicit informed consent for ACS respondents but risks degrading the quality of data used to allocate funding and plan services, shifting potential costs and uncertainty onto taxpayers, governments, and businesses.
Households — including immigrants and racial/ethnic minorities — can decline to answer ACS questions without federal penalty and are less likely to face perceived legal risk, protecting privacy and personal choice and likely increasing trust among sensitive populations.
All respondents will receive explicit notice that the American Community Survey is voluntary, improving informed consent and transparency for participants.
States, localities, schools, hospitals, and low-income communities may receive less accurate population, housing, and economic statistics if ACS response rates fall, risking misallocation or reductions in federal funds and poorer targeting of programs and services.
The Census Bureau may need to spend more on alternative data-collection methods or outreach to offset lower voluntary response, increasing costs that could be borne by taxpayers.
Businesses, planners, and state/local infrastructure projects could face higher costs and greater uncertainty when ACS-derived estimates become less reliable for market, workforce, and infrastructure planning.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes ACS participation voluntary and requires ACS materials to state participation is voluntary.
Official title: To provide that participation in the American Community Survey is voluntary.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by W. Greg Steube · Last progress July 29, 2025
Makes answering the American Community Survey (ACS) voluntary and requires the Census Bureau to state on ACS materials that participation is voluntary. It removes the potential penalty provision for refusing to answer ACS questions and directs the Secretary to include a voluntary-participation statement on the ACS and any successor survey.