Massachusetts Senate Census Panel Hears Warnings on Federal Data Cutbacks Ahead of 2030 Count

BOSTON — May 4, 2026 — Massachusetts Senate Census Committee hears expert warnings that federal cutbacks and data gaps threaten 2030 count accuracy. Chair William N. Brownsberger convened a hearing Monday that drew testimony from Philip Rocco of Marquette University, who presented preliminary research attributing roughly 1.1 million additional 2020 self-responses to states that made any investment in outreach — producing self-response rates nearly 1.5 percentage points higher than states that spent nothing. Rocco noted Massachusetts' seven largest cities saw self-response decline by as much as 8 percent between 2010 and 2020, and warned that the 2026 census test has been stripped down to two suburban sites, eliminating all group quarters and tribal testing. Former Census Bureau senior executive Amy O'Hara and Georgetown fellow Beth Jarrus testified that the Bureau recently lost access to key Medicare enrollment data and that WIC records — covering 40 to 50 percent of infants — are shared by only a handful of states, leaving the youngest and most chronically undercounted population with little administrative data backup. O'Hara confirmed that Title 13 census data cannot be used for immigration enforcement, but acknowledged a Treasury-Homeland Security data-sharing arrangement last year occurred "via handshake of the secretaries" — a breakdown she described as outside normal protocol.