RALEIGH – Gov. Josh Stein asked the U.S. Census Bureau to withdraw proposed rules that would change how residence and demographic information are handled in the 2030 Census, warning that the changes could affect North Carolina’s representation and federal funding.
In a Nov. 2 letter, Stein said the proposal could make the count less accurate and leave some lawful residents out of the population used to apportion seats in Congress. He also objected to proposed restrictions on race and ethnicity questions.
The Census Bureau published the proposed rule Sept. 10. It would establish federal regulations for determining a person’s usual residence and for deciding which demographic questions may appear on the decennial census questionnaire.
The proposal would generally base residence on where a person lawfully spent the greatest number of days between Jan. 3 and April 1 of the census year, with administrative records such as tax filings used to support the determination. For congressional apportionment, it would include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents while excluding other noncitizens.
The bureau said the changes are intended to improve constitutional fidelity, protect core census data and promote efficiency. The document remains a proposed rule, not a final regulation. The public comment period closed Nov. 2 after an extension from Oct. 13.
Stein’s letter said North Carolina could gain another congressional seat and Electoral College vote after the 2030 count because of its population growth. He also said more than $60 billion in annual federal funding is guided by census data.
The governor and the state Office of State Budget and Management raised particular concerns about military families, people displaced by disasters and residents whose physical address may not match tax records. OSBM said the proposed framework could increase the risk of counting people in the wrong place or leaving them out.
North Carolina’s military and disaster-recovery populations make the issue especially significant for the state. OSBM noted that residence can be complicated for deployed service members and families, while thousands of households displaced by Hurricane Helene remain in temporary or nontraditional housing.
The Census Bureau has not adopted the proposal. The rulemaking record will determine whether the agency changes, withdraws or finalizes it after reviewing public comments.
Sources
- Governor Josh Stein: Nov. 2 letter to the U.S. Census Bureau
- Federal Register: proposed 2030 Census residence and demographic-question rules
- North Carolina OSBM: potential effects of the proposed rules
Photo Credit: U.S. Census Bureau headquarters, Suitland, Maryland, March 2007, via Wikimedia Commons; public-domain federal employee photograph. Cropped and resized. Historical agency context, not a North Carolina location or current event.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.